Hamas accepts cease re proposal by Egypt, Qatar
Israel yet to comment on deal, which came hours after it ordered an evacuation of 1,00,000 Palestinians from the city of Rafah in southern Gaza; details of the truce proposal still unclear
Associated Press amas announced on Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a ceasere to halt the sevenmonth-long war with Israel in Gaza, hours after Israel ordered 1,00,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating from the southern city of Rafah, signalling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the deal, and details of the proposal have not yet been released.
In recent days, Egyptian and Hamas o£cials have said the ceasere would take place in a series of stages during which Hamas would release hostages
Hit is holding in exchange for Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza.
End to war?
It is not clear whether the deal will meet Hamas’s key demand of bringing about an end to the war and complete Israeli withdrawal.
Hamas said in a statement that its top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had delivered the news in a phone call with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Egypt’s Intelligence Minister.
After the release of the statement, Palestinians erupted in cheers in the sprawling tent camps around Rafah, hoping the deal meant an Israeli attack had been averted.
Israel’s closest allies, including the U.S., have repeatedly said Israel shouldn’t attack Rafah. The looming operation has raised global alarm over the fate of around 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering there.
Aid agencies have warned that an o¨ensive will worsen Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe and bring a surge of more civilian deaths in an Israeli campaign that in nearly seven months has killed 34,000 people and devastated the territory.