BEIRUT — Hamas announced Monday that it accepted a cease-fire agreement with Israel in Gaza, a diplomatic breakthrough that came hours after Israel ordered civilians in eastern Rafah to evacuate in what was seen as a prelude to a long-anticipated offensive on the area.

Hamas said the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, spoke by phone with the Qatari prime minister and the Egyptian minister of intelligence to inform them of the group’s “approval of their proposal regarding the cease-fire agreement.”

Hamas released some details of what it said the proposal included. Israel has yet to accept the terms and said late Monday that it would dispatch a delegation to finalize details, even though significant gaps in the agreement remained.

The cease-fire is seen as key to the release of some of the dozens of hostages, including several Americans, that have been held in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, in which nearly 1,200 Israelis and others were killed. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in the massive retaliatory airstrikes and land operations Israel launched in response.

Monday’s announcement marked a moment of optimism after months of agonizing negotiations, with Qatar, Egypt and the United States pushing for a cease-fire that remained stubbornly out of reach. It also came after CIA Director William Burns spent the weekend shuttling among Arab capitals in intense last-ditch talks to push the cease-fire agreement.

“We will be encouraged when we get the deal in place and we can start seeing hostages getting back to their families,” White House national security spokesman John F. Kirby said Monday when asked to gauge prospects of a successful cessation of hostilities. “We are at a critical stage right now.”

Hamas made its announcement hours after Israel’s military began dropping leaflets in eastern Rafah ordering people to evacuate immediately. Israel has been threatening for weeks — against U.S. advice — to launch a major military ground operation on the city where more than 1 million displaced Gazans have taken refuge. Israel argues the last remaining Hamas battalions are holed up in Rafah, while the U.S., United Nations and others say any military invasion would unleash a humanitarian disaster for the people there.

Already, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza face starvation because fighting and destruction have made the delivery of food, medicine and water extremely difficult, aid officials say.

In recent days, Israel insisted that an attack on Rafah would go through whether a deal was made or not, and that a truce would not include an end to hostilities, while Hamas demanded that as a condition for any deal.

That key difference, apparently, has yet to be bridged.

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