The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Israeli strikes hit Rafah as deal fails
Israel last night began striking targets in the southern Gaza town of Rafah despite Hamas announcing its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal.
Hamas’s abrupt acceptance of the deal came hours after Israeli leaders ordered an evacuation of Palestinians from eastern parts of Rafah, signalling an invasion was imminent.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the proposal Hamas accepted was “far from Israel’s essential demands” but it would send negotiators to continue talks.
The diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope for an accord that could bring at least a pause in the seven-month war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
Hanging over the wrangling is the threat of an all-out Israeli assault on Rafah, a move the US strongly opposes and that aid groups warn will be disastrous for 1.4 million Palestinians taking refuge there.
The Israeli military said it was conducting “targeted strikes” against Hamas in eastern Rafah.
President Joe Biden spoke with Mr Netanyahu and reiterated US concerns about an invasion of Rafah, telling him a ceasefire was the best way to protect the lives of Israeli hostages, according to a National Security Council spokesperson.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said its officials were reviewing the Hamas response “and discussing it with our partners in the region”. Details of the proposal have not been released.
Touring the region last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pressed Hamas to take the deal. Egyptian officials said it called for a ceasefire in stages starting with a limited hostage release and partial Israeli troop pullbacks within Gaza.
The two sides would also negotiate a “permanent calm” that would lead to a full hostage release and greater Israeli withdrawal, they said.
Hamas had been seeking clearer guarantees for its key demand of an end to the war and complete
Israeli withdrawal in return for the release of all hostages, according to Egyptian officials.
Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected that trade-off, vowing to keep up Israel’s campaign until Hamas is destroyed after its October 7 attack that triggered the war.
Israel says Rafah is the last significant Hamas stronghold in Gaza, and Mr Netanyahu said yesterday that the offensive against the town is vital to ensure the militants cannot rebuild their military capabilities.
After the evacuation order was issued, Mr Miller said the US has not seen a credible and implementable plan to protect Palestinian civilians. “We cannot support an operation in Rafah as it is currently envisioned,” he said.
Aid agencies have warned that an offensive will bring a surge of civilian deaths in an Israeli campaign that has already killed 34,000 people and devastated the territory.
It could also wreck the humanitarian aid operation based in Rafah that is keeping Palestinians across the Gaza Strip alive, they say. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk yesterday called the evacuation order “inhumane”.
“Gazans continue to be hit with bombs, disease and even famine,” he said. “And today, they have been told that they must relocate yet again. It will only expose them to more danger and misery.”
Israeli military leaflets were dropped ordering evacuation from eastern neighbourhoods of Rafah, warning that an attack was imminent and anyone who stays “puts themselves and their family members in danger”.
The military told people to move to an Israeldeclared humanitarian zone called Muwasi, a makeshift camp on the coast. It said Israel has expanded the size of the zone and that it includes tents, food, water and field hospitals.
Around 450,000 displaced Palestinians are already sheltering in Muwasi and Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said: “The area is already overstretched and devoid of vital services.”