War cabinet member Benny Gantz says Israel views the release of captives in Gaza as a “moral responsibility” and a “priority” objective“, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, he emphasised these points to US Secretary of State Blinken during their call yesterday, adding that Israel would “exhaust any opportunity to achieve the goal”.

Gantz also noted the importance of the US exerting pressure on negotiators “to ensure the implementation of the arrangement proposed by Israel”.

On Friday, Biden unveiled a three-stage ceasefire plan, framed as an Israeli proposal. However, the proposal has drawn backlash from some far-right members of the Israeli government, who are pressuring Netanyahu not to accept it.