(MENAFN- Live Mint) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a Sunday cabinet meeting to push back on recent suggestions that the US is dictating security policy on Gaza.

"Israel is an independent state, the United States is an independent state," Netanyahu said.

"The relations between us are those of partners," he said, adding, "I want to make one thing clear -- it is our own security policy. We are not prepared to tolerate attacks against us, we respond according to our own discretion against attacks, as we have seen in Lebanon and in Gaza."

Netanyahu also said Israel is not seeking approval for military attacks and addressed the issue of international teams meant to monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza.

Israel's security policy governed by its own discretion

"We control our own security and we have made it clear to the international forces that Israel will determine which forces are acceptable to us, and that is how we operate and will continue to operate," he said.

Netanyahu's response comes after US vice president JD Vance's Israel visit followed the arrival of Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Vance and the Israeli leader championed each other's efforts in securing the ceasefire deal, which came into effect on October 10.

Vance reassures Israel of US partnership, not domination

But as a succession of US representatives flocked to Israel this week after flares of violence threatened to undermine the ceasefire, Vance also appeared to seek to reassure the Israeli leader - and the world - that the US wasn't looking to overstep.

“We don't want a vassal state and that's not what Israel is. We don't want a client state,” he said.“We want a partnership.”

He later clarified the role of the Americans in Israel this week as the ceasefire looked fragile and the path to the second phase of the deal appeared uncertain.

It wasn't about“monitoring in the sense of, you know, you monitor a toddler. It's about monitoring in the sense that there's a lot of work, a lot a good people who are doing that work and it's important for the principles of the administration to keep on ensuring that our people are doing what we need them to do,” Vance said.

International security force in Gaza remains unclear

The planned international security force in Gaza has loomed as a major question mark.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday that“numerous of our NOW GREAT ALLIES in the Middle East, and areas surrounding the Middle East,” had“explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm, informed me that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force.”

He added that he had“told these countries, and Israel, 'NOT YET,'” but he warned that if Hamas did not“do what is right,” or it violated the ceasefire agreement, the militant group could meet a“FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL” end.

The President did not directly reference the international security force that he envisions entering Gaza to help maintain peace in the territory in the future under his 20-point plan, but appeared to be referring to the initiative.

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Vance had said on Tuesday that the international stabilization force envisioned by the president was still in its early planning stages, as he acknowledged that coordinating troops from different countries could be a difficult task.

Hinting that Gulf Arab states, Turkey and Indonesia could be involved alongside the Israeli military, he said:“How do you actually get those folks to work together in a way that actually produces long-term peace?”

It remains unclear which nations, if any, have volunteered forces for the job, but Netanyahu appeared to counter any possibility of Turkish forces being involved, saying Wednesday that he had“very strong opinions about that.”

The news conference came after flashes of violence in Gaza in recent days threatened to unravel the ceasefire deal.

Israel accused Hamas of attacking Israeli forces in the enclave, a charge the militant group denied, with Israeli troops responding with deadly airstrikes.

Israel and Hamas have also clashed over delays in the return of hostage bodies and ongoing barriers to aid access in the enclave.

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