Hamas accepts Gaza truce proposal, Israel urges evacuation of Rafah

RAFAH: Hamas said on Monday (May 6) it accepts a proposal for a truce in the seven-month war in Gaza, as Israel renewed an order for Palestinians in Rafah to evacuate ahead of an invasion of the city that had been threatened. for a long time.

Hamas’ announcement sent cheering crowds into the streets amid happy tears, chants of “Allahu Akbar” and celebratory gunshots into the air.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the proposal “falls far short of Israel’s essential demands,” but the government will send negotiators to talks “to exhaust the potential for reaching an agreement.”

The United States, a close ally of Israel, said it was “reviewing” Hamas’ response.

Hamas member Khalil al-Hayya told Qatar-based Al Jazeera that the proposal agreed to by Hamas includes a three-phase truce.

He said it includes a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the return of Palestinians displaced by the war and an exchange of hostages and prisoners, with the goal of a “permanent ceasefire.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s military reiterated an earlier call for residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate as it prepares for a “ground operation” in the southern Gaza city.

Renewing the call for people to leave, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that “Israeli aircraft attacked more than 50 terrorist targets in the Rafah area” on Monday.

In response, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad said its militants fired rockets from Gaza into southern Israel.

Hamas in a statement said its leader Ismail Haniyeh had informed mediators Qatar and Egypt “of Hamas’s approval of its proposal regarding a ceasefire agreement.”

A senior Hamas official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Israel must now decide whether to accept or “obstruct” a truce after seven months of war.

Israel has called on Palestinians to leave eastern Rafah amid growing global alarm over the consequences of an Israeli ground invasion of the city bordering Egypt.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, condemned the order, saying it would be “impossible to carry out safely,” and the world body’s human rights chief, Volker Turk, called it “inhumane.” “.

Dujarric later said Guterres called on both Israel and Hamas to “make the extra effort necessary” to seal a truce.

The evacuation call came after a disagreement between Israel and Hamas over the group’s demands to end the war during weekend negotiations in Cairo.

State-linked Egyptian media said talks stalled after a rocket attack claimed by Hamas’s armed wing killed four Israeli soldiers on Sunday.

Netanyahu has vowed to send ground troops to Rafah regardless of any truce, defying international concerns.

In the statement responding to Hamas’ announcement, Netanyahu’s office also said the Rafah offensive will continue “to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to advance the release of our hostages.”