Latest development in Gaza: Hamas agrees to ceasefire, Israel approves Rafah attack plan
The latest developments in Gaza indicate that Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire after weeks of negotiations, even as the Israeli government’s war cabinet approved a plan for an assault on the densely populated city of Rafah and reported the deployment of tanks near the Rafah crossing.
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Al Mayadeen, announced Monday, May 6th that Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire proposal offered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
According to Reuters, the proposal, which Hamas has agreed to, involves a three-phase ceasefire that, in addition to the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, would see the Israeli army withdraw from the Gaza Strip and the reconstruction of this narrow coastal strip according to a plan previously prepared by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
However, hours after Hamas agreed to the plan, which had brought joy to the people in Gaza, the government of Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that it did not accept the terms of this proposal because, according to their assessment, it does not come close to meeting Israel’s “main demands.”
Following Israel’s non-acceptance, reports emerged of the Israeli army’s attack on eastern Rafah, where about one and a half million Palestinians from other parts of Gaza have taken refuge.
Israeli media also reported what they called a military deployment of Israeli tanks near the Rafah crossing. They confirmed that areas in eastern Rafah, including Kerem Shalom, Al-Salam, Al-Jneina, and Al-Tannur, were targeted in heavy attacks last night.
The Israeli army also confirmed last night’s attack on eastern Rafah and described it as “limited.”
BBC reported that the attack began hours after the Israeli army warned about 100,000 civilians and war-affected individuals housed in eastern Rafah to immediately evacuate the area and move to designated areas in Khan Younis for “humanitarian purposes.”
Although Israel has sent a delegation to Cairo to negotiate the ceasefire proposal, the potential Israeli advance on Rafah has been met with widespread reactions.
Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, described the Israeli ground attack on Rafah as “unbearable” and wrote on the social network X: “This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, and a ground attack on Rafah would be unbearable due to its devastating consequences, as it destabilizes the region.”
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