Hamas accepts the ceasefire proposal made by mediators from Egypt and Qatar to end seven months of war with Israel. Its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, broke the news in a phone call with Qatar and Egypt. Israel “unacceptable proposal”
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Hamas accepted the proposal of Egypt and Qatar for the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip but shortly after came Israel’s comment “we explore any proposal but action in the Gaza Strip continues”, reported Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
A possible, and probable, would not come as a surprise, after the statements released in recent days by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who stated that the Israeli army will continue to fight until all its objectives are achieved.
Even the order to evacuate Rafah, a city on the border with Egypt in the south of the Strip, where around 1.4 million Palestinians have found temporary refuge, did not lead one to think of an imminent truce.
“We have no choice, we have to enter Rafah: no use waiting, the longer we wait, the worse the negotiations get”, commented Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat. “We need to remove Qatar from the negotiations. It is the biggest financier of terrorism, from the Taliban to Hamas,” he added.
Barkat then said that Israel is not aware of any news regarding the hostages. It is not yet known how many hostages remain alive. “We know that the armed groups that kidnapped them do not care about treating them humanely,” the minister said. Of the 240 hostages kidnapped, according to sources, 133 should still be in Gaza but it cannot be ruled out that some may have died during the conflict.
Israel is examining the proposal but there is no end to the military operations for now
The spokesperson of the Israeli army, Daniel Hagari, declared during a press conference: “We explore any proposal but the action in the Gaza Strip continues”: responding to those who asked him if Hamas’ ‘yes’ to the proposal to Ceasefire may change Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s outlook on a ground offensive in Rafah.
An Israeli official also says officials are reviewing the ceasefire plan, but warns that Hamas’ plan differs from the previous Israeli framework.
