Israel started moving forward with its long-anticipated military offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip late Monday. The military operation began hours after Hamas announced it had accepted a Gaza cease-fire deal, which Israeli officials called a “Hamas deception.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it is “currently conducting targeted strikes against Hamas terror targets in eastern Rafah,” according to a military statement. The strikes commenced soon after the Israeli war cabinet voted unanimously to continue with the Rafah operation while sending a delegation to work on a cease-fire proposal that Israel can agree on, according to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
“Although the Hamas proposal is far from Israel’s necessary requirements, Israel will send a delegation of working-class mediators to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under conditions acceptable to Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said.
Earlier Monday, Hamas accepted the terms of a Gaza cease-fire deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar. Hamas announced that its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had approved of the proposal set forth by the Egyptian and Qatari mediators, saying the “ball [is] now in Israel’s court.”
The reported agreement includes a three-stage truce, ultimately leading to a permanent cease-fire. With each phase lasting 42 days, the deal includes the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, and an exchange of hostages held by Hamas and prisoners held in Israel.
Israel said the proposal was not one that was agreed on with the mediators and announced it would examine the version that Hamas accepted.
Israeli officials claim the announcement was a ploy by Hamas to produce an international backlash against Israel for refusing a deal, and according to the New York Post, they told KANN TV that the announcement of a cease-fire agreement was a “Hamas deception.”
Hamas’s acceptance of the Egyptian–Qatari proposal comes a day after the terror group walked away from cease-fire negotiations over the length of a potential cease-fire. Hamas demanded a permanent end to the war, while Israel was adamant about only allowing a temporary pause in fighting to free the remaining 100 hostages in Gaza. The cease-fire deal accepted by Hamas reportedly included dead hostages as part of a proposed prisoner swap.
Hamas launched rockets from Rafah toward the Israeli border on Sunday, killing at least four Israeli soldiers and injuring ten others. The attack led Israel to close Kerem Shalom, a key border crossing for humanitarian aid that permitted entry into southern Gaza. Netanyahu agreed to reopen the crossing following a phone call with President Joe Biden on Monday morning.
Also on Monday, an IDF spokesman said some 100,000 Palestinians in certain parts of Rafah had been ordered to evacuate from the southern Gazan city and move to an Israeli-defined humanitarian zone in Muwasi, where they will find increased humanitarian aid such as field hospitals, tents, food, and water.