Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said any Gaza ceasefire deal must allow Israel to resume fighting until its objectives are met.

“Any deal will allow Israel to return and fight until all the goals of the war are achieved,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday.

Hamas has dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before it would sign an agreement. Instead, it said it would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, a Hamas source said on Saturday.

But Mr Netanyahu said he insisted the deal must not prevent Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives are met.