Hamas has announced its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a cease-fire to halt the seven-month-long war with Israel in Gaza.
The announcement from the Islamic terror group came just hours after Israel demanded Palestinian civilians begin evacuating from the southern city of Rafah, signaling a potentially imminent ground invasion.
An official familiar with Israeli thinking said that Israeli officials are examining the cease-fire proposal approved by Hamas but warned that the plan “is not the framework Israel proposed.”
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to Israel’s ongoing formulation of a formal response, did not provide further details, suggesting that a deal may still be a ways off.
According to Hamas and Egyptian officials, the cease-fire would take place in stages, with Hamas releasing hostages in exchange for Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza. However, it remains unclear whether the deal will meet Hamas’ key demand of ending the war and securing a complete Israeli withdrawal.
Israel’s closest allies, including the United States, have worried that an attack on Rafah could catch the 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering there in the crossfire. Hamas’ use human shields has been thoroughly documented through the years.
President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, reiterating U.S. concerns about an invasion of Rafah and emphasizing that a cease-fire with Hamas is the best way to protect the lives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
Israeli officials have vowed to continue their military campaign until the terrorist group is destroyed.
Netanyahu said Monday that seizing Rafah, which Israel considers the last significant Hamas stronghold in Gaza, was vital to preventing the militants from rebuilding their military capabilities and repeating the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.
The war, sparked by an unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel by Hamas and other militants, has killed thousands of Hamas fighters and Palestinian civilians. The conflict has driven more than 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes, with hundreds of thousands in the north on the brink of famine.
Tensions escalated Sunday when Hamas fired rockets at the Israeli-Gaza border at Israel’s main crossing for delivering humanitarian aid, killing four soldiers.
Israel shuttered the crossing in response, but an army spokesman said it would not affect the amount of aid entering Gaza through other routes.
Mediators from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar have been scrambling to salvage a cease-fire deal amid the rising tensions. CIA Director William Burns, who had been in Cairo for talks on the deal, headed to meet with the prime minister of Qatar to continue discussions.
In a fiery speech on Sunday evening, Netanyahu rejected international pressure to halt the war, stating that “if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.” He accused Hamas of “torpedoing” a deal by refusing to budge from its demand for an end to the war and a complete Israeli troop withdrawal in return for the release of hostages that were stolen on October 7.
As the war enters its eighth month, the fate of the cease-fire proposal and the potential for a ground invasion in Rafah remain uncertain. The international community continues to call for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, while the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens with each passing day.