Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that a specific date had been set for a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but the White House said Cairo negotiators had submitted a proposal to Hamas militants for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. trade.

“Today I received a detailed report of the talks in Cairo. We are constantly working to achieve our goals, starting with the release of all hostages and a complete victory over Hamas,” the Israeli leader said in Jerusalem.

“This victory requires getting into Rafah and eliminating the terrorist camps there. This will happen. There is a date,” he said.

The United States immediately rebuked Netanyahu. “We have been very clear that we do not support action against Rafah,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

Sabrina Singer, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, said “we want to see a solid plan for how they would conduct any operations there” given “significant” humanitarian concerns about the more than one million Palestinian civilians taking refuge there. “We haven’t seen them come up with a formal plan.”

The weekend talks in Cairo included CIA Director William Burns as well as Israeli, Hamas and Qatari officials. The White House called the talks “serious.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters: “What we have now is that we have submitted a proposal to Hamas and we are waiting for Hamas to respond.” “Now, it depends on what Hamas can do. No stepped up.”

Kirby declined to discuss specific details of the proposed deal, adding “that would be one of the surest ways to derail this deal.”

Back-and-forth talks over a ceasefire and hostage releases come days after U.S. President Joe Biden warned Netanyahu that the U.S. might change its support for Israel’s war effort, coupled with the threat of prolonging the war.

Biden demanded that Israel immediately allow more humanitarian aid into the embattled war zone to aid hungry Palestinians and authorized its negotiators to reach an immediate ceasefire.

Biden’s request came after an Israeli airstrike killed seven international aid workers trying to deliver food to Gaza.

“We’re seeing over 300 people,” Kirby said Sunday. [humanitarian aid] Trucks entering Gaza, that’s progress. But obviously, we need to see that number increase, and we need to see it continue to really address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. “

Israeli officials are also due to visit the White House in the coming days to hear U.S. concerns about a possible Israeli attack on Rafah.

“We do not support a large-scale ground operation in Rafah,” Kirby said. “We have also seen no indication that such a large-scale ground operation is imminent or that these forces [moved out of Khan Younis] are being repositioned for such ground operations. “

On the war front, the Israeli military said on Monday it launched an air strike in southern Lebanon that killed a Hezbollah commander who had launched several attacks against northern Israel.

An Israeli military statement identified the commander as Ali Ahmed Hashim of Hezbollah’s Radwan unit.

The armed group announced the death of a fighter with the same name, but did not disclose details of the death.

The attack also killed two other people, the IDF said.

Cross-border attacks by Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants have been common during Israel’s six-month war against Hezbollah’s ally Hamas.

Also on Monday, the Israeli military said it carried out airstrikes in the Khan Younis area of ​​southern Gaza in response to the firing of multiple rockets.

Israeli officials announced the withdrawal of troops from Khan Younis on Sunday.

Israeli Defense Minister Yov Galante said troops were “withdrawing and preparing for their next mission,” which would include the attack on Rafah.

The war has driven more than half of Gaza’s population to the Rafah area on Gaza’s border with Egypt.

The United States, the United Nations and other agencies have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if Israel launched a major offensive against Rafah.

Israeli officials have pledged to protect civilians taking refuge in the area but have not given a detailed plan on where they can safely go.

Netanyahu on Sunday marked six months since the start of the war and said Israel was close to achieving its goal of wiping out the Hamas terror group.

“We are one step away from victory. But the price we pay is painful and heartbreaking,” he told the cabinet.

Even as stalled ceasefire talks resume in Cairo, Netanyahu promised, “There will be no ceasefire if the hostages are not returned. It simply won’t happen.”

Hamas is still believed to be holding about 100 hostages in Gaza tunnels, including about 250 people who launched a shocking attack on Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people.

As of mid-February, 112 hostages had been released, most during a week-long ceasefire in November, and 36 hostages are believed to have died or been killed during six months of fighting in Gaza.

The Hamas health ministry in Gaza said Israel’s counteroffensive has killed more than 33,000 people, two-thirds of them women and children. The Israeli military said it killed thousands of militants in total.

Information for this report was obtained in part from Reuters, the Associated Press and AFP.