Israel to 'ignore' Egypt-Qatar proposal for temporary Gaza ceasefire

Israel is expected to ignore the proposal for a temporary ceasefire put forward by Egypt and Qatar and will press ahead with plans to occupy Gaza City despite pressure from the public and the military.

Sources familiar with the discussions told Israel's Channel 13 that the government has sent a message to mediators that it will only end the war when Hamas agrees to all its conditions, including full disarmament as well as release of Israeli captives it is holding.

Hamas last week agreed to the Egypt-Qatar ceasefire plan, which would see it free around half of the remaining captives in return for a 60-day truce.

In the days since, the Israeli government has not officially responded to the proposal and has instead intensified its aerial assault on Gaza City ahead of an expected ground invasion.

The proposal is not expected to be discussed at a cabinet meeting later on Tuesday, according to the Israeli broadcaster.

The report comes as thousands of Israelis took part in nationwide protests on Tuesday to demand the government sign a deal to release the captives.

The Israeli government has a history of scuppering negotiations to end the war and until recently was only willing to discuss temporary pauses in the fighting.

It had backed a formula for a temporary truce drawn up by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which is the basis for the plan now being pushed by Egypt and Qatar.

However, Netanyahu earlier this month reversed his position and now rejects Witkoff's framework for a multi-phased peace deal.

In a statement, he declared that Hamas's full surrender would be the only way to end the war, and demanded it release all the captives, surrender its weapons and leave Gaza.

He also rejected any involvement of the Palestinian Authority in a future administration of Gaza but has not suggested any alternative Palestinian leaders that Israel would allow to take control of the territory.

Public opposition to the war has risen in the days since Netanyahu approved plans to take control of Gaza City.

Led by the hostages' family members, demonstrators have staged two days of nationwide protests demanding that the government agree to a hostage-release deal.

"We are going to intensify the struggle this week. We will fight until the last hostage," one family member told Channel 13 ahead of Tuesday's demonstrations.

The decision to occupy Gaza City has also been met with opposition in the defence establishment, including from the military's chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.

More than 600 retired Israeli military and security officials recently called for an end to the war and urged US president Donald Trump to force Netanyahu to the negotiating table.

However, Netanyahu has continued to side with his far-right coalition partners, some of whom have threatened to resign from the government if he agrees a partial deal with Hamas.

Far-right parties and many lawmakers in Netanyahu's Likud have ambitions to annex Gaza, expel its 2.2 million inhabitants, and rebuild Israeli settlements there.