Hamas says it accepts proposal for Gaza cease-fire with Israel

Palestinian militant group Hamas said it had agreed to a cease-fire proposal put forward by Qatar and Egypt to halt fighting with Israel in Gaza.

There was no immediate official response from Israel. One government official dismissed the Hamas offer while Israel’s Channel 12 said Israel was studying it. The U.S. State Department said it also was reviewing it with partners in the region.

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas political office, informed Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s head of intelligence of the acceptance, according to a statement by Hamas posted on Telegram. It didn’t provide further details on the terms of a potential deal.

Israeli cabinet minister Itamar Ben Gvir was the first Israeli official to address Hamas’ response to the cease-fire proposal, saying it was no more than a trick. “Hamas’ shenanigans have only one answer: an immediate order to occupy Rafah! Increasing military pressure, crushing Hamas, and proceeding to its ultimate defeat,” Ben Gvir said in a post on X. Ben Gvir isn’t part of Israel’s war cabinet, but he is part of Netanyahu’s cabinet, which would eventually have to approve any cease-fire deal that Israel wants to proceed with.

By contrast, Yair Lapid, head of the Israeli opposition, said on X that a government interested in bringing the hostages back home would immediately convene an urgent discussion and dispatch negotiation teams to Cairo.

Rafah move

Israel may have increased pressure on Hamas to accept a deal with its order earlier Monday for some civilians to move out of parts of Rafah, a possible prelude to a long-expected attack on the city in Gaza where more than a million Palestinians have sought shelter from the war.

The Israel Defense Forces “will act with extreme force against terrorist organizations in your areas of residence,” a spokesman said on X on Monday morning. He urged residents of eastern Rafah to go north to an “expanded humanitarian area” near Khan Younis, another city in Gaza.

Large numbers of people started leaving Rafah in cars, on foot and on horse-drawn carriages. A spokesman for the Israeli military said its Air Force struck 50 targets in Rafah Monday.

President Joe Biden has called a Rafah invasion a “red line,” and he and other top U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that Israel must not launch such an attack without protecting civilians. During a visit to Tel Aviv last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “we’ve not seen such a plan.’

A White House summary of a call Monday between Biden and Netanyahu said only that “the president reiterated his clear position on Rafah.”

Hamas and Israel have been negotiating indirectly via Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. on an agreement that would see the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians detained in Israeli jails. It would also include a pause in fighting.

The move comes after cease-fire talks between Hamas and Israel in Cairo over the weekend stalled, the main sticking point being the Iran-backed militant group’s insistence that any truce be permanent. Hamas also killed four Israeli soldiers with a rocket barrage on Sunday on the border crossing of Kerem Shalom, one of its worst missile attacks in weeks.

If a deal is reached, it would bring about a halt in fighting between the two sides for the first time since a similar accord in late November. The impasse could allow talks to begin regarding a permanent truce, while letting much-needed aid be delivered to Gaza’s war-ravaged population. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union.

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(With assistance from Courtney McBride.)

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