Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday threw cold water on President Biden’s push for a multistep cease-fire agreement.

“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on X.

The prime minister’s stance comes less than a day after Mr. Biden announced the terms of a cease-fire proposal from Qatar that included a three-phase plan to end hostilities and release the remaining hostages in Gaza. 

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But Mr. Netanyahu said he would sign off on the proposal only if the conditions of obliterating Hamas were met. 

“Under the proposal, Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent cease-fire is put in place,” his office said. “The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent cease-fire before these conditions are fulfilled is a nonstarter.”

Mr. Biden has been trying to lighten Israel’s blow on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that’s home to over a million Palestinians, over fears of a humanitarian disaster. 

On Friday, the president presented the latest cease-fire framework by noting that Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out a large-scale attack against Israel, which he said was the Israelis’ war goal to begin with. The new plan is also backed by Egypt. 

The first phase of the plan would see a full cease-fire in fighting across the region and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from population centers like Rafah. During this phase, Israel and Hamas would exchange hostages, including Americans held by the terrorist organization. 

Palestinian civilians would be allowed to return to all areas of Gaza, too, and hundreds of aid trucks would enter the region every day. 

The second phase would center on talks to permanently end hostilities in the region, and the third phase would start Gaza’s reconstruction.