An Israeli government spokesman has said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu viewed a plan for a hostage release deal in Gaza presented by US President Joe Biden as a “partial” outline, AFP reports.

“The outline that President Biden presented is partial,” government spokesman David Mencer quoted Netanyahu as saying, adding that “the war will be stopped for the purpose of returning the hostages” after which discussions will follow on how to achieve the war’s goal of eliminating Hamas.

“The claims that we have agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met are incorrect,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying in a separate statement issued by his office.