Hamas accepts Qatar and Egypt’s ceasefire proposal, no confirmation from Israel

Hamas said on Monday that it has accepted a ceasefire proposal presented by Qatar and Egypt, according to a statement by the group.

The Palestinian movement said in a statement that Ismail Haniyeh, who heads the group’s political bureau, informed Qatar and Egypt of its acceptance of their proposal. Israel has not yet made an official announcement on the deal. There were no immediate details of that agreement.

“Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas movement’s political bureau, had a phone call with the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, and with the Egyptian Minister of Intelligence, Abbas Kamel, and informed them of the Hamas movement’s approval of their proposal regarding the ceasefire agreement,” said the full statement from Hamas, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera aired live footage of Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah celebrating after news broke of Hamas accepting the proposal.

There was no official response from Israel, however, an Israeli official told Reuters that the agreement accepted by Hamas was “softened” and included “far-reaching” conclusions that Israel does not agree to.

Unnamed sources told Israel’s Channel 12 that Israel has not accepted the proposal accepted by Hamas.

The Israeli public broadcaster Kan also reported that the Israeli government continues to refuse to agree to a framework that gives guarantees to end the war.

Over the last few days, negotiations were taking place in Cairo to achieve a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The Palestinian group had sent a delegation to the Egyptian capital over the weekend to discuss the prospects of a deal.

The negotiations for a ceasefire have been taking place amid a looming Israeli invasion of Rafah.

On Monday morning, the Israeli military began heavily bombing Rafah. Israel then began ordering up to 250,000 Palestinians to leave parts of the border town.

More to follow…