Israel-Gaza updates: Crossing closed to aid after rockets fired from Rafah: IDF

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an operation in Rafah will proceed in comments Tuesday.

"We will enter Rafah because we have no other choice," Netanyahu said in comments translated from Hebrew. "We will destroy the Hamas battalions there, we will complete all the objectives of the war, including the repatriation of all our hostages."

No timeline has been given for a military operation in Rafah, where over 1 million refugees have gathered in the wake of Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The prime minister also criticized the International Criminal Court, saying it "has no authority over the state of Israel." The ICC is currently investigating Israel's actions in Gaza, as well as the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that launched the Israeli response.

"The possibility that it will issue arrest warrants for war crimes against IDF commanders and state leaders, this possibility is a scandal on a historical scale," Netanyahu said.

He added, "I want to make one thing clear: no decision, neither in The Hague nor anywhere else, will harm our determination to achieve all the goals of the war."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

The Hamas delegation has left Cairo⁩ and will return again with a written response to Israel’s proposal for a truce and hostage-release deal, a senior Egyptian government official told ABC News.

-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy

The White House was careful not to get into specifics on the "extraordinarily generous" cease-fire proposal Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to earlier this morning, refusing to give specifics as they continued to call on Hamas to accept the proposal.

"I'm not going to characterize the proposal. I'm not going to get into any of the specifics. What we believe is that now is the time for Hamas to take this deal. It is on the table. It is time to, it is way past time to get these hostages home. It is way past time to get to a ceasefire and we need to make sure we continue to get that humanitarian aid," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Jean-Pierre noted that Israel "has a lot on their plate," but expressed a desire for an in-person meeting to take place, in addition to the two virtual meetings the U.S. and Israel have had in recent weeks.

"We would like to have an in-person meeting. That is certainly what we would like to do, but in the meantime, we’ve had two important virtual meetings and in the readout, yesterday, we mentioned that the potential Rafah operations did come up between the two leaders in their conversation," she said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also spoke to President Joe Biden Monday about ongoing Gaza talks and Egyptian efforts to reach a cease-fire and hostage deal in a phone call, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

The call discussed the risks of an Israeli incursion into Rafah, including the "catastrophic" impact on the worsening humanitarian crisis, and implications for the security and stability of the region, the statement added.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Ayat Al-Tawy

Israeli leaders are expressing concern over possible arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against key officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, told ABC News.

It is believed that such potential warrants might be related to charges on the scope of humanitarian aid Israel allowed into Gaza, according to the official.

The ICC can charge individuals with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide under its powers.

-ABC News' Dana Savir