RAFAH, Gaza Strip/CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Palestinian Hamas on Monday agreed to a Gazaceasefire proposal from mediators, but Israel said the terms didnot meet its demands and pressed ahead with strikes in Rafahwhile planning to continue negotiations on a deal.
The developments in the seven-month-old war came as Israeliforces struck Rafah on Gaza's southern edge from the air andground and ordered residents to leave parts of the city, whichhas been a refuge for more than a million displacedPalestinians.
Hamas said in a brief statement that its chief, IsmailHaniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that thegroup accepted their proposal for a ceasefire.
Hamas chief says group accepts Gaza truce proposal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saidlater that Hamas' latest truce proposal falls short of Israel'sdemands but Israel would send a delegation to meet withnegotiators to try to reach an agreement.
In a statement, Netanyahu's office added that his warcabinet approved continuing an operation in Rafah.
"The war cabinet unanimously decided that Israel continuethe operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas inorder to advance the release of our hostages and the other goalsof the war," the statement said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urgedIsrael and Hamas "to go the extra mile needed to make anagreement," his spokesman said.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity saidthe proposal that Hamas accepted was a watered-down version ofan Egyptian offer and included elements that Israel could notaccept.
"This would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel looklike the side refusing a deal," said the Israeli official, whospoke on condition of anonymity.
But an official briefed on the peace talks, also speaking oncondition of anonymity, said the offer Hamas accepted waseffectively the same as one agreed at the end of April byIsrael.
A U.S. official familiar with truce negotiations toldReuters that Netanyahu and the war cabinet "have not appeared toapproach the latest phase of negotiations in good faith."
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller saidWashington would discuss the Hamas response with its allies inthe coming hours, and a deal was "absolutely achievable".
"We want to get these hostages out, we want to get aceasefire in place for six weeks, we want to increasehumanitarian assistance," White House national securityspokesperson John Kirby said, adding that reaching an agreementwould be the "absolute best outcome".
More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed in theconflict, according to Gaza health officials. The U.N. has saidfamine is imminent in the enclave.
The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct.7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according toIsraeli tallies.
RAFAH HIT BY STRIKES
Any truce would be the first pause in fighting since aweek-long ceasefire in November, during which Hamas freed aroundhalf of the hostages.
Since then, all efforts to reach a new truce have founderedover Hamas' refusal to free more hostages without a promise of apermanent end to the conflict, and Israel's insistence that itwould discuss only a temporary pause.
Taher Al-Nono, a Hamas official and adviser to Haniyeh, toldReuters the proposal met the group's demands for reconstructionefforts in Gaza, return of displaced Palestinians and a swap ofIsraeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The Hamas deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil Al-Hayya, told AlJazeera television the proposal comprised three phases, each ofsix weeks, with Israel to pull its troops out of Gaza in thesecond phase.
Earlier on Monday, Israel ordered the evacuation of parts ofRafah, the city on the Egyptian bordered that has served as thelast sanctuary for around half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents.
Israel's closest ally, the United States, has called on itnot to assault Rafah, saying it must not do so without a fullplan in place to protect civilians there, which has yet to bepresented. Washington is committed to stopping Israel's attackon Rafah, the U.S. official said.
Israel said on Monday it was conducting limited operationson the eastern part of Rafah. The was being accompanied bymassive air strikes, according to Palestinian residents.
“They have been firing since last night and today after theevacuation orders, the bombardment became more intense becausethey want to frighten us to leave,” Jaber Abu Nazly, a40-year-old father of two, told Reuters via a chat app.
“Others are wondering whether there is any place safe in thewhole of Gaza,” he added.
Instructed by Arabic text messages, phone calls, and flyersto move to what the Israeli military called an "expandedhumanitarian zone" around 20 km (12 miles) away, somePalestinian families began trundling away in chilly spring rain.
Some piled children and possessions onto donkey carts, whileothers left by pick-up or on foot through muddy streets.
As families dismantled tents and folded belongings,Abdullah Al-Najar said this was the fourth time he had beendisplaced since the fighting began seven months ago.
"God knows where we will go now. We have not decided yet."