Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that, as part of negotiations over the next U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding covering military aid, the U.S. and Israel have been discussing an Israeli proposal to wind down U.S. military aid to Israel.

“What Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and the Israelis have told us is they would like to set up a scenario where they wean off U.S. assistance the way they did with foreign aid a decade and a half ago,” Rubio said at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, referring to non-military, economic aid, which was phased out in 2007. “They’d like to go from the numbers they’re getting now to slowly less every year, until the number hits zero.”

He said that current MOU talks are at a “high level,” and that Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter has been engaging with Rubio’s counselor and chief of staff on the issue, as well as with the Department of Defense.

And he said that the Israelis had made such a proposal “on a number of occasions over the last year” in private, which Netanyahu has since made public.

He said that nothing is finalized at this point, but that the Israelis want over the next 10 years to end in a position where they can continue to buy defense products from the U.S. but will not receive “any sort of assistance” in doing so.

Also at the hearing, Rubio blamed the stalled ceasefire and reconstruction effort in Gaza on Hamas’ intransigence. He said that, at this point in the ceasefire agreement, an international stabilization force should be going into Gaza, but “this requires the demilitarization of Hamas, which right now, they have not been willing to meet the conditions necessary.”

As originally conceived, the security force was set to be charged with demilitarizing Hamas, but there had been ongoing questions about whether states other than Israel would be willing to commit troops to that effort.

Rubio said that other U.S. partners in the region are also pressuring Hamas to proceed with demilitarization. He also said various donors and countries are coming forward to offer funds and investment for reconstruction, but none of that can begin until Hamas is demilitarized.

He also said that the administration continues to oppose any change in the status of the West Bank, and that moves by Israel to annex territory would complicate the U.S.’ ability to push the Gaza peace plan forward. He said the U.S. has shared its position on the issue with Israel as well.