(Bloomberg) -- Israel will consider joining cease-fire talks with Hamas only when the militant group responds to the latest internationally mediated proposal for a temporary truce and hostage release, state-run Kan News reported.

Citing an unidentified political official, Kan said the Israeli government is expecting an answer from the Iran-backed militant group on Wednesday evening. Under the latest terms for a pause in hostilities, Israeli forces have agreed to withdraw from parts of Gaza, according to Kan. 

Israel has been waging a military campaign against Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 invasion by militants on southern communities, in which more than 1,200 people were killed and some 250 were taken hostage. Israeli forces have laid waste to much of Gaza during the near seven-month conflict, with the ultimate aim of destroying Hamas and preventing a repeat attack.  

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s air and ground assault on the strip, according to the Hamas-led health ministry, while many more are struggling for food and health care. Hamas released about 105 hostages during a November cease-fire, and it’s not known how many of the rest are still alive. 

Read More: Hamas Needs to Make Decision on Israel Truce Offer, US Says 

‘Total Victory’

Israel has said it needs to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah to complete the job of eliminating Hamas militants, a prospect that’s raised concern internationally due to the more than 1 million Palestinians taking refuge there. The plan remains in place regardless of whether a truce deal is agreed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.

“The idea that we will halt the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question,” he told the families of hostages and those of soldiers killed in the fighting. “We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there – with or without a deal, in order to achieve the total victory.”

Read More: Why Rafah Is Raising Fears in Israel-Hamas War: QuickTake

The US and its allies are concerned that truce efforts could be scuppered by the International Criminal Court, which people familiar with the matter have said may issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, for their war conduct. 

Netanyahu said he wants “leaders of the free world” to intervene in the ICC’s decision and make sure the warrants aren’t issued, according to a statement from his office.

Smotrich Opposition 

Under the latest cease-fire proposal, displaced Palestinians who need to return to their homes in northern Gaza after being forced to take refuge in the south won’t be inspected by Israeli forces, Kan said. Only Egypt and other countries will carry out that task. 

Israel will still be allowed to “track” Palestinians returning to northern Gaza using “other tools,” Kan said, without giving more details. 

On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged leaders of Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, to quickly reach a decision on Israeli conditions for a temporary cease-fire.

Israel has been “extraordinarily generous” with proposals made during talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt, Blinken said in Riyadh. He wasn’t more specific about the offer on the table.  

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who’s also leader of the right-wing Religious Zionism party that is part of Netanyahu’s coalition, said he would oppose the deal currently on the table. 

“A government that submits to international pressure, stops the war in the middle, avoids immediate entry into Rafah and returns to Egyptian mediation proposals that leave Hamas existing in any configuration, will at that moment lose its right to exist,” Smotrich said. 

(Updates with ICC arrest warrants in seventh paragraph and Smotrich comments in last two paragraphs.)

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