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

White House national security spokesman John Kirby declined to comment about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's latest comments about a possible operation into Rafah during a news conference Tuesday.

"Our position on Rafah is absolutely the same. We don't want to see a major ground operation in Rafah. Certainly, we don't want to see operations that haven't factored in the safety and security of those 1.5 million folks trying to seek refuge down there," Kirby said.

He also declined to say if Netanyahu has shared his plans to enter Rafah with or without a deal directly with the United States.

"They understand our concerns, and those concerns have not changed," he said, adding that they have not seen a credible plan yet from Israel to take civilian safety into consideration though conversations continue.

Kirby reiterated that the new cease-fire deal is on the table, which would give a six-week pause in fighting and help get the hostages home.

Kirby downplayed expectations, but stressed "time is of the essence."

"I wouldn't say we're overly confident. I would say we're being very pragmatic about this," he said.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

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