Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant restated his government's commitment to dismantling Hamas as a governing and military authority in the framework of any deal to wind down the conflict in Gaza, his office said in a statement on Monday.

In the call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Gallant also "discussed the issue of identifying and enabling the emergence of a local, governing alternative" to the Islamist militant group, according to the statement.