Palestinian militant group Hamas said it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal for the Gaza Strip, but Israel’s war cabinet unanimously rejected it as “far from Israel’s necessary demands”, raising hopes for a immediate lull in the fighting.
Israel pledged to continue “its operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas,” but also said it would send a delegation to meet mediators “to exploit the opportunity to reach an agreement.” In a statement later Monday, the Israeli military announced new airstrikes on Hamas targets in the Rafah area.
The Israeli response came hours after Hamas posted a statement on Telegram saying that Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political bureau, had accepted a ceasefire proposal from Qatar and Egypt. Questions about the details were raised almost immediately, with both US and Israeli officials saying they were studying Hamas’ response.
