Hamas accepts Gaza ceasefire proposal

Hamas told Egyptian and Qatari mediators that it had accepted their Gaza ceasefire proposal, Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera reported on Monday, citing a leading Hamas official.

The terror group issued issued a statement on Monday saying its supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had delivered the news in a phone call with Qatar‘s prime minister and Egypt‘s intelligence minister.

The two Middle Eastern nations have been mediating months of talks between Israel and Hamas.

There was no immediate comment from Israel and there were no immediate details over what the agreement entailed.

But a senior Hamas official said that Israel must decide whether it accepts or ‘obstructs’ a truce in Gaza.

‘After Hamas agreed to the mediators’ proposal for a ceasefire, the ball is now in the court of Israeli occupation, whether it will agree to the ceasefire agreement or obstruct it,’ the official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the negotiations.

The agreement, should it take effect, would be the first truce since a week-long pause in the fighting in November, and follows months of failed attempts at pausing the fighting to free hostages and allow more aid into Gaza.

There had been concerns that the ceasefire talks being held in Cairo had stalled after Hamas official Izzat al-Rashiq warned that any Israeli operation in Rafah would put the truce talks in jeopardy.

The city, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, has been the last sanctuary for around half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, pushed south by Israel’s seven-month-old assault.

Just hours before Hamas announced that they had accepted the agreement, Israel had ordered Palestinians to begin evacuating Rafah ahead of an Israeli military operation. Israel says Rafah is Hamas’ last stronghold.

Over a million people in Rafah are huddled in tents and overcrowded apartments after fleeing Israel’s military offensive in other parts of the territory. 

News of Hamas’ announcement sent people in Rafah cheering in the streets, hoping the deal meant an Israeli attack had been averted.

In recent days, Egyptian and Hamas officials have said the cease-fire would take place in a series of stages in which Hamas would release hostages it is holding in exchange for Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza. 

It is not clear whether the deal will meet Hamas’ key demand of bringing about an end to the war and complete Israeli withdrawal. 

Israel’s closest allies, including the US, have repeatedly said that Israel should not attack Rafah, and the looming operation has raised global alarm over the fate of around 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering there.

Aid agencies have warned that an offensive would worsen Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe and bring a surge of more civilian deaths in an Israeli campaign that has killed 34,000 people and devastated the territory.

US President Joe Biden spoke on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reiterated US concerns about an invasion of Rafah. 

He said a ceasefire is the best way to protect the lives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, a National Security Council spokesperson said.

Hamas and Qatar said invading Rafah would derail efforts by international mediators to broker a ceasefire.

Days earlier, Hamas had been discussing a US-backed proposal that reportedly raised the possibility of an end to the war and a withdrawal of Israeli troops in return for the release of all hostages held by the group. 

Israeli officials rejected that trade-off, vowing to continue their campaign until Hamas is destroyed.

Mr Netanyahu said earlier today that seizing Rafah is vital to ensure Hamas cannot rebuild their military capabilities and repeat the attack on Israel that triggered the war.

Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said about 100,000 people were being ordered to move from parts of Rafah to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi, a makeshift camp on the coast. 

He said Israel has expanded the size of the zone and that it included tents, food, water and field hospitals.

Around 450,000 displaced Palestinians are already sheltering in Muwasi. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said it has been providing them with aid but conditions are squalid, with few toilets or sanitation facilities in the largely rural area.

Israeli military leaflets were dropped with maps detailing a number of eastern neighbourhoods of Rafah to evacuate, warning that an attack was imminent and anyone who stays ‘puts themselves and their family members in danger’.

UNRWA will not evacuate from Rafah so it can continue to provide aid to those who stay behind, said Scott Anderson, the agency’s director in Gaza.

‘We will provide aid to people wherever they choose to be,’ he said.

The UN says an attack on Rafah could disrupt the distribution of aid keeping Palestinians alive across Gaza. 

The Rafah crossing into Egypt, a main entry point for aid to Gaza, lies in the evacuation zone. The crossing remained open on Monday after the Israeli order.

Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, condemned the ‘forced, unlawful’ evacuation order and the idea that people should go to Muwasi.

‘The area is already overstretched and devoid of vital services,’ he said, adding that an Israeli assault could lead to ‘the deadliest phase of this war’.

Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 34,700 Palestinians, around two-thirds of them children and women, according to Gaza health officials.

More than 80 per cent of the population of 2.3 million have been driven from their homes, and hundreds of thousands in the north are on the brink of famine, according to the UN.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.