Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed Hamas’ proposals for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, calling them “delusional” in a setback to diplomatic efforts to pause the war.

Netanyahu said during a Wednesday briefing: “We haven’t committed to anything. We haven’t committed to any of the delusional demands of Hamas, the numbers of terrorists with blood on their hands [to release].”

“There is not a commitment – there has to be a negotiation, it’s a process, and at the moment, from what I see from Hamas, it’s not happening,” Netanyahu added.

Hamas had presented its response to a proposal for a deal by calling for a phased Israeli withdrawal from the enclave during a four-and-a-half-month truce and a plan to permanently end the war, according to a copy of the group’s counteroffer obtained by CNN.

But Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel’s aim is “complete victory” and the country will “not do less than that.”

“We are on the way to complete victory. The victory is achievable; it’s not a matter of years or decades, it’s a matter of months,” he said.

Netanyahu’s response is likely to be seen as a blow to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is visiting the region amid intensifying efforts aimed at securing a breakthrough in the conflict. However, the Israeli leader did not rule out the possibility of further negotiations.

Hamas will now send a delegation to Cairo to follow up on its proposals for the hostage and ceasefire deal, the group’s spokesman Osama Hamdan said at a press conference in Beirut on Wednesday.

Hamdan said the delegation would travel to Cairo on Thursday “in the context of our keenness to achieve the best results in a way that serves the interests of our people, stops their suffering, and alleviates their pain.”

Speaking in Tel Aviv Wednesday, Blinken suggested negotiations could still move forward, saying he believed Netanyahu’s comments dismissing the Hamas proposal as “delusional” were referring to its “absolute non-starters.”

“Clearly, there are things that Hamas sent back that are absolute non-starters and I assume that’s what the prime minister was referring to, but I don’t want to speak for him,” Blinken said.

He added that there was “space to continue to pursue an agreement, and these things are always negotiations.”

“It’s not flipping a light switch. It’s not yes or no. There’s invariably back and forth,” Blinken said.

A proposal in three phases

The Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza had proposed a three-phase deal, each lasting 45 days, that would also see the gradual release of hostages held in the enclave in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel – including those serving life sentences – as well as the start of a massive humanitarian and rebuilding effort.

Contrary to earlier demands, Hamas did not call for an immediate end to the war. Negotiations for a permanent ceasefire would take place during the truce and the remaining hostages would only be released once a final deal to end the war was agreed, the document said.

The proposal was a response to a framework agreement presented by negotiators in Paris at the end of last month. Senior Hamas official Muhammad Nazzal confirmed the text seen by CNN was genuine.

Hamas’ response had put the focus back on Israel, which is under intense pressure from its allies to scale down the war and ease the humanitarian suffering in Gaza. There have been indications that the United States views the Hamas offer positively, but Netanyahu has pledged not to stop the campaign until Israel destroys Hamas once and for all.

He reiterated that stance after his Wednesday address, telling Israeli media that “continuing pressure, military pressure, is a necessary condition. Surrendering to Hamas’ delusional demands will only ask for another disaster for the state of Israel, another massacre.”

Netanyahu said Israel would be safe only after it “destroys” Hamas. “Not part of Hamas, not half of Hamas, the entire Hamas.”

An Israeli official familiar with the negotiations told CNN earlier on Wednesday there was “no way” his country would accept the Hamas counteroffer.

The Israeli offensive, launched after the Hamas attack four months ago, has taken an immense humanitarian toll on the strip, with tens of thousands dead and the population of Gaza on the brink of famine.

A weeklong truce in November saw the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Israel believes 132 hostages taken during the October 7 attacks remain in Gaza, 29 of whom are thought to have been killed.

‘There won’t be any hostages to release’

Netanyahu’s position was criticized on Wednesday by the Israeli former hostage Adina Moshe, who said there “won’t be any hostages to release” if his government continued its plan to completely eliminate Hamas.

Moshe, 72, who was kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz and held hostage in Gaza for seven weeks, spoke at a press conference for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, directing her comments specifically to Netanyahu.

“Mr. Netanyahu, I’m turning to you. It’s all in your hands. You are the one. You’re the one who can. And I’m really afraid that if you continue the way you do, the destruction of Hamas, there won’t be any hostages to release,” Moshe said.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters also delivered a message directly to Netanyahu and the Israeli War Cabinet in a press release on Wednesday. “If the hostages are not returned home: the citizens of Israel should know they live in a state that is not committed to their security, that the mutual responsibility in it has died,” the families forum said. “They who do not protect their citizens will find that their citizens lose faith in them and their leadership.”

“The price is unbearable, but the price of abandoning the hostages will be a historic stain for generations to come,” the forum added.

US not among Hamas’ proposed gaurantors

Under Hamas’ counterproposal, the first phase of the ceasefire would have included the release of hostages in Gaza including women and children under 19 years old who aren’t enlisted in the Israeli military, as well as the elderly and the sick, in exchange for all Palestinian female, juvenile, sick and elderly Palestinian prisoners as well as 500 prisoners named by Hamas, including those with life sentences and convictions for serious crimes.

It would also include intensifying humanitarian aid, moving Israeli forces “outside populated areas,” a “temporary cessation” of military operations and aerial reconnaissance, the start of reconstruction work, and allowing the United Nations and its agencies to provide humanitarian services and establish housing camps.

It would also see the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in all areas of the Strip and would ensure freedom of movement without obstruction.

In addition, this first phase would include starting indirect talks on “the requirements necessary for a complete ceasefire” and negotiations on the details for the second and third phases.

The second phase, Hamas proposed, would see the conclusion of talks on a cessation of hostilities. During the second phase, all male hostages in Gaza (civilians and military personnel) would be released “in exchange for a specified number of Palestinian prisoners” and Israeli forces would have to completely exit the enclave.

Phase three would aim to exchange bodies and remains of those killed on both sides. It also stipulates that all crossings from the Gaza Strip be opened for trade to resume and so people can move without obstacles. Israel would commit to provide Gaza with its electricity and water needs.

Finally, Hamas proposed that the guarantors of the agreement would be Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Russia and the United Nations. It did not include the US among the guarantors.

Hamas’ counterproposal had earlier been met with optimism by those involved in the negotiations, though President Joe Biden had described it as “a little over the top” in remarks to the press on Tuesday.

Before Netanyahu’s remarks on Wednesday, several Israel-based civil society groups and human rights organizations had called for an immediate ceasefire, and demanded the release of hostages held in the enclave, saying a pause in fighting would assist access to vital aid to address the humanitarian catastrophe in the strip.

“In more than 120 days of war in Gaza, following Hamas’ egregious attack on October 7, which killed some 1,200 Israelis and internationals, we have witnessed Israeli bombardments and siege policy causing unfathomable death and destruction in the Gaza Strip,” said the statement, which was published jointly by 17 Israeli based groups including ‘B’Tselem’, ‘Combatants for Peace’ and ‘Breaking the Silence.’

Blinken says Hamas response on hostages and ceasefire deal ‘creates space for agreement to be reached’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the response from Hamas on a deal to free the remaining hostages and reach a sustained pause in fighting in Gaza “creates space for agreement to be reached,” despite containing what he called “some clear nonstarters.”

“We will work at that relentlessly until we get there,” Blinken said at a news conference in Tel Aviv Wednesday following a day of meetings with top Israeli officials.

The top US diplomat suggested that negotiations toward an agreement would continue, despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissing the counterproposal from Hamas as “delusional” just hours earlier.

“There is not a commitment – there has to be a negotiation. It’s a process, and at the moment, from what I see from Hamas, it’s not happening,” Netanyahu said at a news conference just hours after meeting with Blinken.

“I told Antony Blinken we are nearly there with complete victory,” he said, adding that Israel will “not do less than that.”

Blinken, asked about Netanyahu’s remarks, said he believed that the prime minister was referencing the “absolute non-starters.”

The full Hamas response proposes three phases, each lasting 45 days, including the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, a massive humanitarian effort and freedom of movement for people throughout Gaza, according to a copy obtained by CNN.

“These things are always negotiations,” Blinken said. “It’s not flipping a light switch. It’s not yes or no. There’s invariably back and forth.”

“As I said, we see the space for that. And given the imperative, given the importance that we all attach to bringing the hostages home, we’re intent on pursuing it,” he said.

Still, Netanyahu’s sharp rejection of an end to the fighting is likely to present a challenge to the efforts to reach an agreement. It also suggests that Blinken’s attempts to pressure the Israeli government toward a “humanitarian pause” have yielded little success.

Officials see such a cessation in fighting as central to the objectives they are pushing for both the short- and longer-term in Gaza, particularly as international and domestic US pressure to end the conflict in Gaza continues to mount and amid the massive humanitarian toll of the conflict.

The Israeli offensive, launched after the Hamas attack exactly four months ago, has taken an immense humanitarian toll on the strip, with tens of thousands dead and the population of Gaza on the brink of famine. The offensive sparked a barrage of regional attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups, including by Houthis against vessels in the Red Sea as well as a deluge of strikes by militias against US troops in Iraq and Syria – one of which took the lives of three US service members. The Biden administration is facing outrage from some groups at home over its handling of the situation in Gaza which could cause political damage to President Joe Biden in an election year.

Civilian toll ‘remains too high’

Blinken said that even after four months of pressing the Israeli government “on all of (his) previous visits and pretty much every day on concrete ways to strengthen civilian protection, to get more assistance to those who need it,” the civilian toll “remains too high.”

“Nearly 2 million people have been displaced from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are experiencing acute hunger. Most have lost someone that they love. And day after day, more people are killed,” Blinken said.

“As I said to the prime minister and to other Israeli officials today, the daily toll that its military operations continue to take on innocent civilians remains too high,” he said.

Although Blinken acknowledged that Israel had taken some important actions, he outlined in his meetings Wednesday additional “key steps” that he said the government must take to mitigate civilian suffering.

“Israel should open Erez so that assistance can flow to Northern Gaza, where, as I said, hundreds of thousands of people are struggling to survive under dire conditions,” he said.

“It should expedite the flow of humanitarian assistance from Jordan,” Blinken continued. “It should strengthen deconfliction and improve coordination with the humanitarian providers.”

“And Israel must ensure that the delivery of life-saving assistance to Gaza is not blocked for any reason, by anyone,” the top US diplomat said, appearing to reference ongoing protests that have blocked the entrance of aid.

Behind closed doors, Blinken expressed concerns about the potential toll of a military operation in Rafah, where more than a million people have fled. He was briefed about the plans for that operation in a meeting with Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Herzi Halevi and Mossad Chief David Barnea, according to two Israeli officials.

With the potential of Israel’s military operation lasting months longer, Blinken also publicly appealed to Israel to not “lose sight of our common humanity.”

“The overwhelming majority of people in Gaza had nothing to do with the attacks of October 7,” said Blinken, “and the families in Gaza whose survival depends on deliveries of aid from Israel are just like our families.”

Blinken said that Israelis were “dehumanized in the most horrific way on October 7” and that “the hostages have been dehumanized every day since,” but “that cannot be a license to dehumanize others.”

The top US diplomat intends to meet on Thursday, as he has many times in the past, with the families of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

“The hostages are foremost on our minds and in our hearts,” Blinken said earlier in the day in a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Plans for the ‘day after’ in Gaza

Blinken arrived in Israel Tuesday night after stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar, where the meetings “focused on ensuring … that we can use any pause to continue to build out plans for the day after in Gaza – the security, humanitarian, reconstruction, governance.”

On Wednesday, the top US diplomat also traveled to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. Blinken pressed Abbas on the need to take steps to “ref orm and revitalize” the PA, “chief among them improving governance, increasing accountability to the Palestinian people – reforms that the Palestinian Authority has committed to make in a recently announced reform package and that we urge it to implement swiftly.”

US officials have suggested that a “revitalized” PA could lead a unified Gaza and West Bank. In November, Blinken outlined a series of principles for Gaza after the conflict ends – no reoccupation by Israeli forces and no reduction in territory among them.

However, Netanyahu has publicly dismissed many of these key tenets, as recently as Wednesday after meeting with Blinken.

“I told Blinken today that after we destroy Hamas, we will secure that Gaza is a safe area forever. History has proven that only one force can prove can achieve this – Israel, the IDF and our security forces,” he said at a news conference. “Israel will be acting in Gaza whenever necessary in order for the terror not to come back.”

Netanyahu has rejected the notion of a Palestinian state or a role for the Palestinian Authority in post-war governance of Gaza. There are also signs that he intends to establish a buffer zone within Gaza, in opposition to US demands that Gaza’s territory not be reduced.

On both this and his last trip to the region, Blinken has stressed that the Israeli government must make “difficult” decisions and move toward a two-state solution if it wants to achieve normalization with Saudi Arabia and if it wants the support of its Arab neighbors for security and reconstruction in Gaza.

The top US diplomat, who met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Monday, said that Saudi Arabia still has a “strong interest” in normalizing relations with Israel, but the Crown Prince made clear that the war in Gaza must end and there must be “a clear, credible, timebound path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

At his news conference in Doha Tuesday, Blinken again noted that “in terms of dealing with some of the most profound security challenges that Israel has faced for years, it will be in a much stronger position as part of an integrated region to deal with them.”

“But again, these are decision that will have to be made. None of them are easy. And we’ll continue the effort to prepare all the diplomatic steps necessary to be able to move down that path if that’s the path that everyone chooses,” Blinken said.