Hamas announced overnight that it accepted an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal, but Israel said the deal did not meet its “core demands” and that it was pushing ahead with an assault on Rafah.
The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive – but only barely – for an accord that could bring at least a pause in the seven-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.Hanging over the wrangling was the threat of an all-out Israeli assault on Rafah, a move the United States strongly opposes and that aid groups warn will be disastrous for some 1.4 million Palestinians taking refuge there.
The Israeli military said it was conducting “targeted strikes” against Hamas in eastern Rafah. Soon after, Israeli tanks entered Rafah, reaching as close as 200 metres from Rafah’s crossing with neighbouring Egypt, a Palestinian security official and an Egyptian official said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the press.
It was not immediately known if the proposal Hamas agreed to was substantially different from one that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed the militant group to accept last week, which Blinken said included significant Israeli concessions.Hamas releases 33 Israeli hostages in return for Israel releasing Palestinians from Israeli jails
Israeli leaders have repeatedly rejected that trade-off, vowing to keep up their campaign until Hamas is destroyed after its October 7 attack on Israel that killed about 1200 people and triggered the war. Israel says Rafah is the last significant Hamas stronghold in Gaza, and Netanyahu said that the offensive against the town was vital to ensuring the militants can’t rebuild their military capabilities.
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