Netanyahu says he won't agree to deal that ends war in Gaza

Decision casts doubt on latest truce proposal

- TIA GOLDENBERG, SAMY MAGDY AND MATTHEW LEE

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in an Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip at a hospital morgue Monday in Khan Younis.

The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the eightmonth-long war in Gaza has been cast into doubt after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” ceasefire deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas.

In an interview broadcast late Sunday on Israeli Channel 14, a conservative, pro-Netanyahu station, the Israeli leader said he was “prepared to make a partial deal — this is no secret — that will return to us some of the people,” referring to the roughly 120 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”