The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, informed Egypt and Qatar this Monday that The Islamist group accepted his proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
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Hamas made the announcement in a brief statement in which it offered no further details, after the Israeli Army ordered some 100,000 Palestinians in eastern Rafah to evacuate the town in the face of a possible ground assault.
“Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas movement’s political bureau, held a call with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel and informed them of the Hamas movement’s approval of their proposal for a ceasefire agreement,” the Palestinian group said.
Destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, Gaza.
Photo:AFP
The last truce proposal that international mediators presented to Hamas at the end of April It proposed a cessation of fighting for 40 days and an exchange of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since October 7 in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
However, according to Israeli media such as the public channel Kan or news channel 12, the agreement accepted by Hamas does not have the green light from Israel. The media, citing Israeli government officials, said that The offer that Hamas accepted was made by Egypt unilaterally, and that at the moment it is not being taken into account until the details are clarified.
The parties met in Cairo on Sunday, but the meeting had ended without any apparent concrete progress due to the inflexible positions of both sides after seven months of war.
The end of the war is a key demand of the Islamist group. But Israel, which like the United States and the European Union classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization, opposes the definitive ceasefire and insists on launching a ground offensive against Rafah, which it considers the last bastion of Islamist fighters.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Photo:EFE
A Hamas leader, for his part, insisted Sunday that the movement would not accept “under any circumstances” an agreement that does not explicitly include the end of the war.
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The ball is in Israel’s court, which can choose between accepting the ceasefire agreement or putting obstacles in its way.
Hamas’ announcement about accepting the truce comes after thousands of Palestinians in the southern town of Rafah received messages urging them to evacuate to the Khan Younis area, raising alarms over the possibility that the Army will soon begin with its announced ground invasion in southern Gaza.
The Islamist group warned Israeli forces that any military operation in Rafah “will not be a picnic,” and that the group’s armed wing, the al-Qasam Brigades, are prepared to “defend our people.”
Hamas also asked international organizations still operating in the enclave, and in particular the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), not to abandon it following evacuation orders.
*With AFP and EFE
