Several news organizations are reporting that Hamas has said it accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal, but I would be highly skeptical.
It is of course theoretically possible Israel’s signaling that a Rafah invasion is imminent has gotten the terrorist group to finally agree. But far more likely is that Hamas has essentially made a counteroffer that it knows would be a nonstarter for Israel merely as a propaganda move to make it seem that Israel rejected peace and chose to invade Rafah instead.
As Rich Goldberg notes:
The Egyptian proposal originally called for Hamas to be allowed freedom of movement throughout Gaza and removal of IDF forces. There was no way Israel could allow for that. The American-backed counterproposal that Blinken called generous is what Hamas needs to accept.
— Richard Goldberg (@rich_goldberg) May 6, 2024
My guess is that, despite Hamas’s having rejected cease-fire offers for months even as Israel made more and more concessions, the media — as well as much of the Biden administration — will adopt the Hamas spin.
But we await more details.