White House denies 'gaps' between U.S. and Israel over Biden-described cease-fire proposal

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is pushing for an Israeli-proposed cease-fire and hostage release plan, the White House said Monday as it denied there are any "gaps" between what he outlined and what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government put forward.

Netanyahu reportedly told a closed-door meeting that "gaps" exist between Israel's position and the plan that Biden laid out last Friday, according to The Times of Israel. Biden's version was "incomplete" and "incorrect" in its characterization of Israeli's conditions, Netanyahu reportedly said.

But White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the two countries have the same position on the proposal. ''I know of no gaps to speak of," he said.

"We're confident that it accurately reflects that proposal — a proposal that we worked with the Israelis on."

The disagreement appears to stem from Israel's insistence that its war with Hamas can not end until it has fully destroyed Hamas' military and civil governance capabilities and Biden's assertion that the Israeli military has already devastated Hamas.

"At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another October 7th, which — one of the Israelis’ main objective in this war and, quite frankly, a righteous one," Biden said Friday.

Related: Israelis ask if world has forgotten their hostages six months after the trauma of Oct. 7

Biden described a three-stage proposal that includes a six-week ceasefire that could become permanent, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza, the release by Hamas of an unspecified number of Israeli hostages and the release of Palestinian prisoners in the first phase. American hostages would also be released at that point, Biden said, as would the remains of some hostages who were killed.

That would allow Palestinian civilians to return to their homes and humanitarian aid to surge, he said.

"There are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two.  Israel will want to make sure its interests are protected," Biden said. "But the proposal says if the negotiations take longer than six weeks for phase one, the ceasefire will still continue as long as negotiations continue."

Kirby said Monday that the U.S informed Israel that Biden planned to make the remarks before he did. "The president felt that it was important to lay it out there publicly," Kirby said of the proposal.

Biden gave the speech so the "whole world" could see what was in the plan, he added. The speech was a departure for the U.S., which has in the past declined to comment on the specific details of cease-fire proposals. Biden took this approach, Kirby said, because of how long the hostages have been held and because Hamas has reneged in the past on proposals.

The timing of Biden's remarks were related to the fact that the night before it had been given to Hamas, which the U.S. says Hamas has not officially responded to the proposal.

Kirby stressed that the U.S. does not want to see an attack like the one that Hamas carried out on Oct. 7 and does not want to see the militant group control Gaza after the war.

"We don't have all the answers to all that right now," he said. "Whatever it looks like, it cannot look like it did on the 6th of October."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden ceasefire plan doesn't have 'gaps' with Israel, White House says