Israel began a siege on Rafah as Hamas accepted a new ceasefire proposal

Israeli tanks entered the eastern part of Rafah on Monday night, according to Palestinian witnesses.

MTI

07 May 2024, 07:562024. May 7, 07:56

About two hours after the Hamas terrorist organization’s positive response to the cease-fire and hostage agreement, the Palestinian media reported heavy gunfire, and then the Israeli army (IDF) spokesman confirmed that fighting was ongoing in the eastern part of Rafah.

The Palestinians reported that

houses were blown up in a neighborhood of Rafah and around the Egyptian border crossing, and tank fire and artillery shelling were heard from the east.

According to Palestinian officials, several people were killed in the attacks of the Israeli Air Force on Tuesday morning.

Palestinian officials expressed bewilderment at the attack by the Israeli army, saying “there is an agreement and the war is over”.

Previously, Israel’s narrow military cabinet unanimously decided that Israel would continue the operation in Rafah and send a delegation to Cairo to continue the ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations with Hamas.

“The War Cabinet has unanimously decided that Israel will proceed with Operation Rafah to put military pressure on Hamas to release our hostages and promote other goals of the war”

– announced the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

“Although Hamas’s proposal is far from Israel’s demands, Israel will send a delegation to the mediators to work out the terms of an agreement acceptable to Israel,” the office added in a statement.

According to the document

they are still very far from an agreement, but you can’t say no to Hamas’ answer, and that’s why they are sending a delegation to Cairo,

on the other hand, preparations for the Rafah operation continue. The convocation of the war cabinet was initiated by Chief of Staff Herci Halevi and Defense Minister Joáv Galant.

An American source close to the ceasefire talks told ynet that Israel is still planning an attack in Rafah, but the United States is committed to stopping it. “It appears that Israel and Netanyahu did not pursue the final phase of negotiations in good faith,” he said. William Burns, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), mediating the negotiations, is traveling from Qatar to Egypt and, contrary to previous plans, will not travel to Israel for the time being.

At the start of the Rafah operation, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “I once again emphasize my urgent appeal to the Israeli government and the leadership of Hamas to go the extra mile to reach an agreement and end the current suffering.”

“I am very concerned about the signs that a large-scale operation in Rafah may be imminent. We are already seeing the movement of people, many of whom are in a desperate humanitarian situation and have been displaced several times. They are looking for a safe place, which they have been denied so many times,” added the Secretary General, reminding the parties that the protection of civilians is of paramount importance in international humanitarian law.

Meanwhile, Ismail Hanije, the head of the political office of the Palestinian Islamist terrorist organization, announced on Monday evening: Hamas accepts the ceasefire proposal regarding the war in the Gaza Strip, which was developed by Egypt and Qatar as mediators.

Haníje announced the decision of his organization together with the Prime Minister of Qatar and the head of the Egyptian secret service. Then

a Hamas official said: “we have agreed to a six-week ceasefire”.

US President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly before Hamas’ announcement and told him, according to Israeli media, that a ceasefire was the best way to spare the lives of the Israelis being taken hostage.

Biden confirmed that he does not support a comprehensive military action in Rafah.

Israel has not yet officially responded to the ceasefire proposal, but an unnamed “senior government official” told the Ynet news portal that

“This is a one-sided proposal, in the development of which Israel did not participate, and we did not discuss this with the Egyptians in advance. This is a ploy by Hamas to make Israel appear to be refusing”.

He added: “This is a proposal that has never been discussed in the conversations between the Israeli Prime Minister and the American President and is completely unknown to both Israel and the United States. But we will look into it.”

Shortly after Hamas’s announcement, family members of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian organization began blocking traffic on several main roads in Tel Aviv.

“By rejecting the agreement proposals, the government is playing with the lives of Hamas hostages,” they said.

“Instead of stopping the war so that all the hostages can return home, the government is threatening an attack on Rafah that will put their lives at risk,” they added.

On Monday

Defense Minister Joáv Galant told the family members of the hostages that “the terrorist organization refuses any deal”, and this obliges Israel to act in Rafah.

In Gaza City and Rafah, however, Palestinians celebrated Hamas’ acceptance of a proposal.

Halil al-Hajja, the deputy head of Hamas in Gaza, said that

according to the first part of the accepted proposal, concerning forty days, there would be a temporary ceasefire between the parties, during which the Israeli army would withdraw eastward from the densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.

In addition, they would introduce a no-fly zone over the Gaza Strip for 8 hours a day, and for 10 hours on the day of the hostage releases, and increase the delivery of humanitarian aid and fuel to the area. According to the sources

Hamas would release thirty-three Israeli hostages, women, men under 19 and over 50, as well as the sick and wounded. In return, Israel will release 40 imprisoned Palestinians for every Israeli soldier and 20 for every Israeli civilian.

Indirect talks would resume on the 16th day of the ceasefire to agree on the restoration of sustainable calm in the Gaza Strip in the second and third phases of the ceasefire.

In the second, 42-day phase, all remaining prisoners would be released in exchange for additional Palestinian prisoners, and the Israeli military would withdraw completely from Gaza. In the third, final, and also 42-day phase, Hamas must hand over the bodies of all Israelis killed in the October 7 terrorist attack or who died in captivity in exchange for the bodies of Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli prisons.

Iranian Foreign Minister: According to the leader of Hamas, “the ball is now in Israel’s court”
With Hamas’s acceptance of the Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal, “the ball is now in Israel’s court”, Hossein Amirabdollahian said, referring to Iranian Foreign Minister Ismail Hani, the head of the political office of the radical Islamist organization, with whom he had a telephone conversation on Monday.
In his post on X, Amirabdollahián also reported that Haníje said that Hamas was driven by “honest intentions” in accepting the ceasefire proposal.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who also spoke with Haní on the phone during the day, called it a positive development that he made this decision at the suggestion of Turkey. In his post published on X, the Turkish head of state added that “it was emphasized that Israel must also take action for a lasting ceasefire”.
In a statement, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi demanded further efforts from the parties to reach an agreement. He emphasized that he is closely monitoring the developments in the negotiations for “a comprehensive ceasefire”.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, quoted by the Palestinian WAFA news agency, called on the international community to put pressure on Israel to accept the ceasefire proposal after Hamas had already accepted it.