Hamas accepts ceasefire proposal as Israel strikes targets in Rafah

Israeli leaders have approved a military operation in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah and Israeli forces are now striking targets in the area, officials said on Monday (Tuesday AEST).

The move came hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the proposal was “far from Israel’s main demands” but would nevertheless send negotiators to continue negotiations on a ceasefire agreement.

An official familiar with Israeli thinking says Israeli officials are studying the cease-fire proposal endorsed by Hamas.

But the official cautioned that the Hamas-approved plan “is not the framework proposed by Israel.”

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Israel is still formulating an official response, did not elaborate.

The language signals that a deal could still be a long way off.

Egyptian and Hamas officials have said in recent days that the ceasefire will take place in a series of stages, during which Hamas will release hostages it is holding in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Hamas said in a statement that its top leader Ismail Haniyeh broke the news in a telephone conversation with Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence minister.

After the statement was released, Palestinians erupted in cheers in the scattered tent camps around Rafah, hoping the deal meant an Israeli attack had been averted.

Israel’s closest allies, including the United States, have repeatedly said Israel should not attack Rafah.

The upcoming operation has sparked worldwide concern over the fate of the estimated 1.4 million people who have taken refuge there.

Australia and several other Western countries have also called on Israel not to invade.

“Australia is seriously concerned about the prospect of a major Israeli ground offensive against Rafah,” a spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Monday evening.

“More than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have sought refuge in Rafah from fighting elsewhere.

“Australia, the G7 and so many countries have called on the Netanyahu government to change course.

“The Foreign Secretary has made clear Australia’s view that Israel should not go down that road.”

Israel describes Rafah as Hamas’s last significant stronghold after seven months of war, and its leaders have repeatedly said the invasion is necessary to defeat the Islamic militant group.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said about 100,000 people had been ordered to move to a nearby Israeli-declared humanitarian zone called Muvassi.

He said Israel was preparing a “limited scope operation” and did not say whether it was the start of a wider incursion into the city.

Late on Sunday (Monday AEST), Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that Israel had no choice but to act in Rafah.

On Sunday, Hamas launched a deadly rocket attack from the Rafah area, killing four Israeli soldiers.

Shoshani said Israel has published a map of the evacuation zone and that the orders are being issued through leaflets, text messages and radio broadcasts.

He said Israel has extended humanitarian aid to Muwasi, including field hospitals, tents, food and water.

The Israeli army said on the social platform X that it would act with “extraordinary force” against the extremists and urged the population to evacuate immediately for their safety.

Israel’s plan to invade Rafah has sparked global alarm because of the possibility of harming the more than one million Palestinian civilians sheltering there.

About 1.4 million Palestinians – more than half of Gaza’s population – are stuck in the city and its environs.

Most of them fled their homes elsewhere in the territory to escape Israel’s onslaught and now face another harrowing move or the risk of being under another attack.

They live in densely packed tent camps, overcrowded UN shelters or overcrowded apartments and are dependent on international food aid, with crippled sanitation systems and medical facility infrastructure.

The U.N. agency that has been helping millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank for decades, known as UNRWA, warned on Monday of the devastating effects of the Rafah offensive, including more suffering and civilian deaths.

The agency said it would not leave but would remain in Rafah as long as possible to continue providing life-saving assistance.

Egypt’s Rafah crossing, the main transfer point for aid going to Gaza, is located in the evacuation zone. The outlet remained open on Monday following the Israeli order.

On Monday, Netanyahu accused Hamas of “torpedoing” the hostage deal and not backing down from its “extreme demands,” while vowing to stop the militants from regaining control of Gaza.

In a fiery speech Sunday night marking the country’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, he rejected international pressure to end the war, saying “if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”

A Hamas official told The Associated Press that Israel was trying to pressure the group to make concessions on the ceasefire, but that it would not change its demands. Hamas wants a full end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the eventual restoration of the Strip in exchange for the Israeli hostages held by the militants.

Shoshani did not say whether the upcoming operation in Rafah was a response to Sunday’s attack by Hamas, which forced the closure of Israel’s key border crossing for aid. He said it would not affect the amount of aid entering Gaza as other crossings continued to operate.

However, he did not comment on US warnings not to invade, and it was unclear whether Monday’s evacuation order was coordinated with Egypt.

Egypt, Israel’s strategic partner, has said an Israeli military takeover of the Gaza-Egyptian border – which is supposed to be demilitarized – or any move to push Palestinians into Egypt would jeopardize its four-decade peace treaty with Israel.

In Rafah, people received leaflets on Monday morning in Arabic detailing which neighborhood blocks they had to leave and where humanitarian zones had expanded.

The leaflets said humanitarian services would extend from Deir al-Balah in the north to the center of the city of Khan Younis in the middle of the Gaza Strip.

“Anyone found near (militant) organizations endangers himself and his family members. For your safety, (the army) calls on you to evacuate immediately to the extended humanitarian zone,” it said.

Palestinians in Rafah said people gathered to discuss their options after receiving the leaflets.

Most said they did not want to move alone and preferred to travel in groups.

“So many people here are displaced and now they have to move again, but no one will stay here, it’s not safe,” Nidal Alzaanin told The Associated Press by phone.

A father of five, Alzaanin works for an international aid group and was displaced to Rafah from Beit Hanoun in the north at the start of the war. He said people were concerned because Israeli troops had fired on Palestinians as they moved during previous evacuation orders.

Alzaanin said he has packed his papers and bags but will wait 24 hours to see what others are doing before moving. He said he has a friend in Khan Younis who he hopes will pitch a tent for his family.

But some people say they are too tired and sick of months of devastation to run again.

Sahar Abu Nahel was displaced in Rafah with 20 members of her family, her husband detained by Israel and her son-in-law missing, she said.

“Where am I going to go? I don’t have any money or anything. I’m seriously tired and so are (my) children,” she said, wiping tears from her cheeks.

“Perhaps it is more honorable for us to die. We are humiliated.”