JERUSALEM — After Hamas finally announced on Monday its acceptance of a ceasefire proposal between Egypt and Qatar, Israel said it approved a military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and began attacking targets in the area. Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would send negotiators to continue talks on the deal.
The brinksmanship of diplomacy and military policy offers a glimmer of hope — albeit a very brief one — for a deal that could briefly suspend the seven-month war that has devastated the Gaza Strip. Looming over the dispute was the threat of an all-out Israeli attack on Rafah, a move the United States opposes.
Hamas’s abrupt acceptance of the ceasefire agreement came hours after Israel ordered the evacuation of Palestinian civilians from the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah, indicating that an invasion was imminent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the proposal was “far from Israel’s essential demands” but that he would still send negotiators to continue talks on a ceasefire agreement.
At the same time, the army Israeli reported that it was carrying out “targeted attacks” against Hamas in eastern Rafah. The nature of the attacks is currently unknown, but the measure could be aimed at maintaining pressure on the Rafah threat while continuing talks.
US President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Monday and reiterated US concerns about an invasion of Rafah. Biden said he believes reaching a ceasefire with Hamas is the best way to protect the lives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, a U.S. National Security Council spokesman said on condition of anonymity to report on the call ahead of time. from the official White House press release.
Biden is concerned about the attack on Rafah because it is adverse to his presidential re-election purposes.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said US authorities were reviewing Hamas’ response “and discussing it with our partners in the region.” A U.S. official said the United States was examining whether Hamas accepted a version of the deal that had been signed by Israel and international negotiators or something else.
Details of the proposal have not been published. Touring the region last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken “pressured” Hamas terrorists to accept the pact.
In recent days, Egyptian and Hamas officials have said the ceasefire will be held in a series of stages during which Hamas will release hostages it holds in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The two sides will also negotiate a “permanent calm” that will lead to a full release of the hostages and further Israeli withdrawal from the territory, they said.
Hamas said in a statement that its top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had broken the news in a phone call with Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence minister.
Rafah, the last refuge of Hamas
Netanyahu said Monday that capturing Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’s last significant stronghold in Gaza, is vital to ensuring the group cannot regain its military capabilities and repeat an attack like the one it carried out against Israel on Sept. 7. October, an event that triggered the war.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesman, said about 100,000 people have been instructed to evacuate Rafah and move to a humanitarian zone created by Israel called Muwasi, a makeshift camp on the coast. He claimed that Israel has expanded the camp and now has tents, food, water and field hospitals.
Source: With information from AP
