The Israeli War Cabinet, headed by the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed this Monday to advance with the operation in Rafahsouth of Gaza, but agreed for a delegation to meet with the mediators to continue negotiating a possible ceasefire. Netanyahu’s message came after the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh will confirm the negotiators of Egypt and Qatar that the Islamist group accepted a ceasefire proposal in Gaza.
In a statement, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that “although Hamas’ proposal is far from meeting Israel’s requirements, A delegation of mediators will be sent to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under acceptable conditions.” At the same time that Israel responded to Hamas’ announcement, The Israeli Army was intensively bombing the city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced people came to seek refuge after the start of the war.
War Cabinet member Benny Gantz agreed with Netanyahu. “The military operation in Rafah is an inseparable part of our continued efforts and commitment to return our abductees,” Gantz said in a statement in which he confirmed that Israel will send a delegation to Cairo, although the proposal agreed to by Hamas “does not corresponds to the dialogue that has taken place so far with the mediators.
Family claim
Relatives of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip called on the Israeli government to accept the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. “Now is the time for everyone involved to make good on their commitment. and turn this opportunity into an agreement for the return of all the hostages,” said the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons.
A group of protesters, including relatives of those kidnapped, blocked the main route to Tel Aviv on Monday to demand that Israel accept an agreement. “This is your moment. Be brave, be a leader”he told the Israeli prime minister Einav Zangaukerthe mother of Gaza hostage Matan Zangauker, in statements to Israeli television channel 12.
Truce in three phases and release of hostages
The truce proposal accepted this Monday by Hamas consists of a three-phase ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that includes the release of the hostages held by the Palestinian movement. The sources, who asked not to be identified, indicated that In the first phase, a 40-day cessation of hostilities will be applied with the possibility of extension, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces towards the east of the Strip and away from densely populated areas.
The proposal presented by Egypt and Qatar contemplates the return of the displaced to their homes, as also reported by the Qatari network Al Jazeera and the Egyptian state television Al Qahera New. From the first day of the truce, Hamas would release three hostages every three days, while Israel will release “the corresponding number of Palestinian prisoners”, a figure yet to be agreed upon.
Hamas political bureau member Khalil al Haya told Al Jazeera that The second phase of the agreement includes “a permanent cessation of military operations” of Israel in Gaza. Al Haya noted that in the second and third stages, indirect negotiations would be carried out with Israel through the mediation of Egypt and Qatar on “the keys” to the following exchanges of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
The offensive reaches Rafah
On the ground, the Israeli offensive on Gaza does not stop. The Israeli Army said it was bombing “Hamas targets” in the city of Rafahalthough Palestinian media confirmed that Some of these attacks are occurring in areas with civilian populations. that on Monday morning they received a military evacuation order. The Army “is currently carrying out targeted attacks against Hamas terrorist targets in eastern Rafah,” the Armed Forces said in a statement.
The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, confirmed Israeli attacks in the city of Rafah against “roads, agricultural lands, residential houses and farms” in the eastern neighborhoods of Al Salam and Al Jinaina, among others, which coincide with some of the locations listed by the Army in its evacuation order. Despite the heavy bombing, as the EFE agency was able to verify on the ground, Israeli troops and tanks remain on the other side of the fence in southern Gaza for the moment.
At a news conference in Hebrew, Israeli Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said troops were preparing for a ground raid on Rafah after giving the evacuation order. Hamas warned Israeli forces on Monday 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.”
“More war and famine”
The evacuation of Rafah is considered the prelude to a ground operation in this city bordering Egypt, which, as the Israeli Army reiterated this Monday, is essential to “destroy the last four battalions” of the Islamist movement in the Palestinian territory. A military spokesman estimated that about 100,000 people were being evacuated from Rafah, where the UN estimates about 1.2 million people live.
The UN He assured that this place “is already overcrowded” and that it is “impossible to carry out a mass evacuation of this magnitude safely”. The Israeli evacuation order “foreshadows the worst: more war and famine,” declared this Monday the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, who urged Israel to refrain from launching the ground offensive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that he will invade Rafah despite concerns expressed by the United States, his main ally, and by the international community about the fate of civilians sheltered in this town.
The White House indicated on Monday that the US president, Joe Biden “reiterated his clear position” against this operation against Netanyahu during a telephone conversation. The presidency of the Palestinian Authority asked the United States “to intervene to prevent this massacre.” A representative of the Palestinian Red Crescent in eastern Rafah said that “the inhabitants are evacuating in terror, in panic.”
