JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas introduced its acceptance Monday of an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, however Israel stated the deal didn’t meet its “core demands” and that it was pushing forward with an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Still, Israel stated it might proceed negotiations.
The high-stakes diplomatic strikes and army brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive — however solely barely — for an accord that might deliver not less than a pause within the 7-month-old struggle that has devastated the Gaza Strip. Hanging over the wrangling was the specter of an all-out Israeli assault on Rafah, a transfer the United States strongly opposes and that support teams warn shall be disastrous for some 1.4 million Palestinians taking refuge there.
Hamas’s abrupt acceptance of the cease-fire deal got here hours after Israel ordered an evacuation of some 100,000 Palestinians from japanese neighborhoods of Rafah, signaling an invasion was imminent.
Israel’s War Cabinet determined to proceed the Rafah operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace stated. At the identical time, it stated that whereas the proposal Hamas agreed to “is far from meeting Israel’s core demands,” it might ship negotiators to Egypt to work on a deal.
The Israeli army stated it was conducting “targeted strikes” towards Hamas in japanese Rafah. The nature of the strikes was not instantly recognized, however the transfer appeared aimed toward preserving the strain on as talks proceed.
President Joe Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reiterated U.S. issues about an invasion of Rafah. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated American officers had been reviewing the Hamas response “and discussing it with our partners in the region.” An American official stated the U.S. was analyzing whether or not what Hamas agreed to was the model signed off to by Israel and worldwide negotiators or one thing else.
It was not instantly recognized if the proposal Hamas agreed to was considerably completely different from one which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed the militant group to simply accept final week, which Blinken stated included vital Israeli concessions.
Egyptian officers stated that proposal referred to as for a cease-fire of a number of levels beginning with a restricted hostage launch and partial Israeli troop pullbacks inside Gaza. The two sides would additionally negotiate a “permanent calm” that may result in a full hostage launch and better Israeli withdrawal out of the territory, they stated.
Hamas sought clearer ensures for its key demand of an finish to the struggle and full Israeli withdrawal in return for the discharge of all hostages, however it wasn’t clear if any adjustments had been made.
Israeli leaders have repeatedly rejected that trade-off, vowing to maintain up their marketing campaign till Hamas is destroyed after its Oct. 7 assault on Israel that triggered the struggle.
Netanyahu is below strain from hard-line companions in his coalition who demand an assault on Rafah and will collapse his authorities if he indicators onto a deal. But he additionally faces strain from the households of hostages to achieve a deal for his or her launch.
Thousands of Israelis rallied across the nation Monday evening calling for a right away settlement. About a thousand protesters swelled close to the protection headquarters in Tel Aviv, the place police tried to clear the highway. In Jerusalem, a couple of hundred protesters marched towards Netanyahu’s residence with a banner studying, “The blood is in your palms.“
Israel says Rafah is the final vital Hamas stronghold in Gaza, and Netanyahu stated Monday that the offensive towards the city was important to making sure the militants can’t rebuild their army capabilities.
But he faces sturdy American opposition. Miller stated Monday the U.S. has not seen a reputable and implementable plan to guard Palestinian civilians. “We can not help an operation in Rafah as it’s at present envisioned,” he stated.
The looming operation has raised world alarm. Aid businesses have warned that an offensive will deliver a surge of extra civilian deaths in an Israeli marketing campaign that has already killed 34,000 folks and devastated the territory. It might additionally wreck the humanitarian support operation primarily based out of Rafah that’s preserving Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip alive, they are saying.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday referred to as the evacuation order “inhumane.”
“Gazans continue to be hit with bombs, disease, and even famine. And today, they have been told that they must relocate yet again,” he stated. “It will only expose them to more danger and misery.”
Israeli leaflets, textual content messages and radio broadcasts ordered Palestinians to evacuate japanese neighborhoods of Rafah, warning that an assault was imminent and anybody who stays “puts themselves and their family members in danger.”
The army instructed folks to maneuver to an Israel-declared humanitarian zone referred to as Muwasi, a makeshift camp on the coast. It stated Israel has expanded the dimensions of the zone and that it included tents, meals, water and area hospitals.
It wasn’t instantly clear, nevertheless, if that was already in place.
Around 450,000 displaced Palestinians already are sheltering in Muwasi. The U.N. company for Palestinian refugees, often called UNRWA, stated it has been offering them with support. But circumstances are squalid, with few sanitation amenities within the largely rural space, forcing households to dig personal latrines.
Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, condemned the “forced, unlawful” evacuation order to Muwasi.
“The area is already overstretched and devoid of vital services,” Egeland stated.
The evacuation order left Palestinians in Rafah wrestling with having to uproot their households as soon as once more for an unknown destiny, exhausted after months residing in sprawling tent camps or crammed into faculties or different shelters in and across the metropolis. Israeli airstrikes on Rafah early Monday killed 22 folks, together with kids and two infants.
Mohammed Jindiyah stated that in the beginning of the struggle, he tried to carry out in his house in northern Gaza below heavy bombardment earlier than fleeing to Rafah.
He is complying with Israel’s evacuation order this time, however was uncertain whether or not to maneuver to Muwasi or elsewhere.
“We are 12 families, and we don’t know where to go. There is no safe area in Gaza,” he stated.
Sahar Abu Nahel, who fled to Rafah with 20 members of the family, together with her kids and grandchildren, wiped tears from her cheeks, despairing at a brand new transfer.
“I have no money or anything. I am seriously tired, as are the children,” she stated. “Maybe it’s more honorable for us to die. We are being humiliated.”
Israel’s bombardment and floor offensives in Gaza have killed greater than 34,700 Palestinians, round two-thirds of them kids and girls, in response to Gaza well being officers. The tally doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. More than 80% of the inhabitants of 2.3 million have been pushed from their properties, and a whole lot of 1000’s within the north are getting ready to famine, in response to the U.N.
The struggle was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel through which Palestinian militants killed round 1,200 folks, largely civilians, and kidnapped some 250 hostages. After exchanges throughout a November cease-fire, Hamas is believed to nonetheless maintain about 100 Israelis as nicely the our bodies of round 30 others.
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Mroue reported from Beirut. Samy Magdy in Cairo and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed.
