Hamas accepts Egypt, Qatar's ceasefire proposal

Hamas on Monday agreed to a ceasefire proposal in the seven-month-old war with Israel in Gaza, Hamas sources told Al Arabiya, hours after the Israeli military told residents to evacuate some parts of Rafah, which has been sheltering more than a million displaced people.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the group accepted their ceasefire proposal, according to a brief statement from Hamas, which gave no details of the accord.

A senior Hamas official said Monday that Israel must decide whether it accepts or “obstructs” a truce.

“After Hamas agreed to the mediators’ proposal for a ceasefire, the ball is now in the court of Israeli occupation, whether it will agree to the ceasefire agreement or obstruct it,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the negotiations.

Israeli official says Hamas approved a ‘softened’ Egyptian proposal that is not acceptable to Israel.
The proposal includes ‘ far-reaching’ conclusions that Israel does not agree to, the Israeli official added.

The agreement, should it take effect, would be the first truce since a week-long pause in the fighting in November, and follows months of failed attempts at pausing the fighting to free hostages and allow more aid into Gaza.

There had been concerns that the ceasefire talks being held in Cairo had stalled after Hamas official Izzat al-Rashiq warned that any Israeli operation in Rafah would put the truce talks in jeopardy.

The city, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, has been the last sanctuary for around half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, pushed south by Israel’s seven-month-old assault.