Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked a top Cabinet minister arriving in Washington on Sunday for talks with U.S. officials, according to an Israeli official, signaling widening cracks within the country’s leadership nearly five months into its war with Hamas.

The trip by Benny Gantz, a centrist political rival who joined Netanyahu’s wartime Cabinet following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, comes as friction between the U.S. and Netanyahu is rising over how to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and what the postwar plan for the enclave should look like.

An official from Netanyahu’s far-right Likud party said Gantz’s trip was planned without authorization from the Israeli leader. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Netanyahu had a “tough talk” with Gantz and told him the country has “just one prime minister.”

Gantz is scheduled to meet on Monday with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and national security adviser Jake Sullivan and on Tuesday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to his National Unity Party. A second Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity said Gantz's visit is intended to strengthen ties with the U.S., bolster support for Israel’s war and push for the release of Israeli hostages.

In Egypt, talks were underway to broker a cease-fire before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins next week.

Israel did not send a delegation because it is waiting for answers from Hamas on two questions, according to a third Israeli government official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Israeli media reported that the government is waiting to learn which hostages are alive and how many Palestinian prisoners Hamas seeks in exchange for each.

All three Israeli officials spoke anonymously because they weren’t authorized to discuss the disputes with the media.

The U.S. began airdrops of aid into Gaza on Saturday, after dozens of Palestinians rushing to grab food from an Israel-organized convoy were killed last week. The airdrops circumvented an aid delivery system hobbled by Israeli restrictions, logistical issues and fighting in Gaza. Aid officials say airdrops are far less effective than deliveries by truck.

U.S. priorities in the region have increasingly been hampered by Netanyahu’s Cabinet, which is dominated by ultranationalists. Gantz’s more moderate party at times acts as a counterweight.

Netanyahu's popularity has dropped since the war broke out, according to most opinion polls. Many Israelis hold him responsible for failing to stop the Oct. 7 cross-border raid by Hamas, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took roughly 250 people as hostages into Gaza, including women, children and older adults, according to Israeli authorities.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters. Around 80% of the population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, and U.N. agencies say hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine.

Israelis critical of Netanyahu say his decision-making has been tainted by political considerations, a charge he denies. The criticism is particularly focused on plans for postwar Gaza. Netanyahu wants Israel to maintain open-ended security control over Gaza, with Palestinians running civilian affairs.

The U.S. wants to see progress on the creation of a Palestinian state, envisioning a revamped Palestinian leadership running Gaza with an eye toward eventual statehood.

That vision is opposed by Netanyahu and the hard-liners in his government. Another top Cabinet official from Gantz's party has questioned the handling of the war and the strategy for freeing the hostages.

Netanyahu's government, Israel's most conservative and religious ever, has also been rattled by a court-ordered deadline for a new bill to broaden military enlistment of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Many of them are exempted from military service so they can pursue religious studies. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been killed since Oct. 7, and the military is looking to fill its ranks.

Gantz has remained vague about his view of Palestinian statehood. Polls show he would earn enough support to become prime minister if a vote were held today.

A visit to the U.S., if met with progress on the hostage front, could further boost Gantz’s support.

Israel and Hamas are negotiating over a possible new cease-fire and hostage release deal. Vice President Harris said on Sunday it is now up to Hamas to agree to it. “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” Harris said.

Israelis, deeply traumatized by Hamas’ attack, have broadly backed the war effort as an act of self-defense, even as global opposition to the fighting has increased.

But a growing number are expressing their dismay with Netanyahu. Some 10,000 people protested late Saturday to call for early elections, according to Israeli media. Such protests have grown in recent weeks, but remain much smaller than last year's demonstrations against the government's judicial overhaul plan.

If the political rifts grow and Gantz quits the government, the floodgates will open to broader protests by a public that was already unhappy with the government when Hamas struck, said Reuven Hazan, a professor of political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

At least 12 people were killed, including five women and two children, in an Israeli strike on Sunday that hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to an Associated Press journalist at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. And two Israeli strikes southwest of Deir al-Balah killed at least five people and destroyed an aid truck, according to witnesses and staff at the hospital.

Amid concerns about the wider regional conflict, White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein was going to Lebanon on Monday to meet officials, according to an administration official who was not authorized to comment. White House officials want Lebanese and Israeli officials to prevent tensions along their border from worsening.

US rift with Netanyahu grows as top officials meet with his rival: Live updates

The Biden administration's rift with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became even more acute Sunday, when Vice President Kamala Harris called for a cease-fire in Gaza the day before a controversial meeting with a top Israeli official and longtime Netanyahu rival.

Israeli Cabinet minister Benny Gantz traveled to Washington without the endorsement of Netanyahu, who instructed the Israeli Embassy in the U.S. to withhold assistance in arranging his meetings, Israel Hayom reported.

An official from Netanyahu’s far-right Likud party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Netanyahu had a “tough talk” with Gantz and told him the country has “just one prime minister.”

Gantz, a centrist who joined Netanyahu’s hardline government following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, arrives amid deep disagreements between Netanyahu and President Joe Biden over the Israeli military's conduct in Gaza and a postwar vision for the enclave.

Gantz is scheduled to meet Monday with Harris and national security adviser Jake Sullivan and on Tuesday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, his National Unity Party said. They are expected to discuss the urgency of a hostage deal and cease-fire, the American commitment to increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and the imperative of reducing civilian casualties, a White House official told the New York Times.

At an event Sunday commemorating the 1965 Bloody Sunday attacks on demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, Harris told the audience: "Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table."

The U.S. has previously refrained from calling for a cease-fire but, along with Qatar and Egypt, has been trying to mediate a six-week truce that would lead to the release of hostages and enhanced aid for Gaza.

Developments:

∎ Haim Rubinstein resigned as the spokesperson for the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, the second official to leave the organization in less than a month. Rubinstein was among the founders of the group, formed the day after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led assault during which more than 250 hostages were seized and taken to Gaza.

∎ The Israeli military said it has completed up a two-week raid in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, destroying Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad sites and killing more than 100 operatives.

Israel delays sending negotiating team to Cairo for talks

Hopes for a cease-fire agreement in Gaza took another setback Sunday when Israel refused to send a negotiating team to Cairo, citing Hamas' refusal to release the names of hostages who are still alive.

Representatives from Hamas, Qatar and the U.S. are in Cairo for the talks. Multiple Israeli news outlets including the Jerusalem Post were reporting that the Israel delegation will not make the journey until the list is provided and other details of Hamas demands, including the health status of the hostages, are revealed.

Biden has been bullish on a deal, saying last week he hoped an agreement could be reached ahead of Ramadan. The Muslim holy month begins in a week.

Israel has said that more than 30 of the 130 hostages held since Oct. 7 are dead. The first phase of the deal in the works reportedly called for the release of 40 hostages, including women, children, the elderly, and the sick, in the course of a six-week truce.

About 400 Palestinian prisoners would be freed by Israel.

Hamas, Israel still at odds over ending war in Gaza

Hamas will make no deal without Israel agreeing to end the war in Gaza or at least providing a path to end the war, CNN reported, citing "a highly placed source" in the militant group. That could be a deal-breaker − Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel won't end the war until Hamas has been eliminated.

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited troops in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza, calling progress on the ground "impressive" and pledging not to retreat from Gaza until Hamas has been dismantled.

Israeli military says it will put focus on humanitarian aid

The Israeli military said it is stepping up efforts at providing humanitarian aid in Gaza, creating humanitarian corridors, establishing humanitarian pauses −and exercising caution in its use of force. The military said it had coordinated 21 airdrops of 450 packages in Gaza in collaboration with France, the UAE, Jordan, Egypt, and the U.S.

Also Sunday, 50 incubators were shipped into Gaza, bound for five hospitals facing desperate shortages and overwhelming patient loads. A report last week indicated babies in some hospitals had to share incubators.

"We will continue expanding our humanitarian efforts to the civilian population in Gaza while we fulfill our goals of freeing our hostages from Hamas and freeing Gaza from Hamas," the military said in a statement.

Harris Calls for Gaza Cease-Fire, Release of Israeli Hostages

Vice President Kamala Harris called for a temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas as talks drag on over a deal to release hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attacks.

US officials said on Saturday that Israel had essentially agreed to a six-week cease-fire if Hamas hands over hostages categorized as vulnerable. Hamas said its delegates were traveling to Cairo to outline the group’s position on the talks, though a senior Israeli official said the country won’t send a delegation unless it gets certain information from the group.

Meanwhile, Benny Gantz, a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, is expected to travel to the White House on Monday to discuss the path ahead.

The threat Hamas “poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated,” Harris said Sunday in Selma, Alabama, adding that too many Palestinian civilians have been caught up in the conflict. “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table.”

The Biden administration has faced increasing political pressure to step in. US and Jordanian forces airdropped about 38,000 meals on Saturday, with further airdrops planned, following an outbreak of violence last week in which hungry Palestinians were killed near an aid convoy in northern Gaza. Israel’s military said it’s reviewing the incident after accounts that its forces fired on people trying to reach the aid trucks. Israel said most victims died in a stampede for the assistance.

A cease-fire has been a priority for Palestinian-Americans and progressives who have condemned the killings of civilians in Gaza. Roughly 100,000 voters, or more than 13%, turned in “uncommitted” primary ballots in Michigan after calls by activists. Protesters almost penetrated the security perimeter around the president’s motorcade in San Francisco last month.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have died since the conflict began, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. About 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack on Israel, and another 250 were kidnapped. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union.

“Hamas claims it wants a cease-fire. Well, there is a deal on the table, and as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal,” Harris said.

The US vice president is due to meet with Gantz at the White House on Monday, according to a White House official. Gantz is also set to meet with Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.