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

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Sunday regarding the talks for the release of hostages, claiming Hamas is "preventing the release of our abductees."

"Israel was and still is ready to make a truce in the fighting to free our abductees. This is what we did when we released 124 hostages, and returned to fight -- and this is what we are ready to do today," he said Sunday in comments translated from Hebrew.

Throughout negotiations, Israel has "demonstrated a willingness to go a long way," Netanyahu said, adding that Hamas "remained entrenched in its extreme positions, chief among them the demand to withdraw all our forces from the Strip, end the war and leave Hamas intact."

Netanyahu said Israel "cannot accept this," and that "surrendering to the demands of Hamas would be a terrible defeat."

"Therefore, Israel will not agree to Hamas's demands, which mean surrender, and will continue the fighting until all its goals are achieved," he added.

Netanyahu's comments come a day after an Israeli official told ABC News that Israel will not agree to end the war as part of any potential deal.

Meanwhile, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas' political bureau, said Sunday that Hamas is keen on reaching a comprehensive cease-fire that "ends the aggression, guarantees withdrawal, and achieves a serious prisoner exchange deal."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Nasser Atta

An Israeli official responded to the Biden administration's opposition to a military ground operation in Rafah saying, "we don't see eye to eye on everything, but we have been able to overcome differences".

The official added that, "Israel is a sovereign country that acts in accordance with its critical national interest."

-ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge

An Israeli official has told ABC News that Israel will not agree to end the war as part of any potential deal.

“Israel will under no circumstances agree to the end of the war as part of an agreement to release our abductees," an Israeli official told ABC News on Saturday morning.

"As the political echelon decided, the IDF will enter Rafah and destroy the remaining Hamas battalions there - whether or not there will be a temporary ceasefire for the release of our hostages."

The U.S. has ramped up diplomatic pressure on Qatar to expel Hamas leaders from the country in recent weeks, an official familiar with the matter told ABC News.

This development comes as Qatar and other intermediaries between the U.S. and Hamas have struggled to effectively negotiate with the group on a cease-fire agreement, repeatedly expressing confidence the group will accept certain terms that Hamas leaders later reject.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed in the days following the Oct. 7 attacks that the Middle East could not continue carrying out "business as usual" with Hamas.

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford