According to Hamas, the group’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has already announced his acceptance of the proposal to the Qatari prime minister and the Egyptian intelligence chief.
Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s political bureau, spoke by phone with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al Thani and Egyptian Secret Service Minister Abbas Kamel and said Hamas had approved its proposal for a cease-fire agreement. .
To the French press, “The ball is now in Israel’s court,” a Hamas official saidA choice must be made between accepting the Armistice Agreement or rejecting it”.
However, Israel has decided that the proposal endorsed by Hamas is unacceptable, an Israeli official told Reuters.
However, a spokesman for the Israeli military said that all plans for talks on the release of hostages in Gaza are being seriously explored, and that, in parallel, Tel Aviv continues to operate in Hamas-ruled territory.
Asked if Hamas’s acceptance of the plan would affect the attack on the Palestinian city of Rafah, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said,All plans are intensively analyzed, but “all possibilities for negotiation and return of hostages have been exhausted”.
“In parallel, we are still operating in the Gaza Strip and will continue to operate,” he declared.
Hamas approved the plan “This is not the structure proposed by Israel.”According to the source, who did not provide further details and spoke on condition of anonymity, Israeli officials were still preparing a formal response.
The Israeli war cabinet, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, decided to continue the offensive in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, while agreeing to resume talks with the Palestinian group Hamas.
“Although Hamas’s proposal falls far short of Israel’s requirements, Israel will send a delegation to explore the possibility of reaching an agreement under acceptable terms“, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
In this sense, Israel announced on October 7 that it would maintain its decision to launch a military offensive against Rafah to “exercise military pressure on Hamas” with the aim of “liberating hostages” kidnapped by Palestinian militants. Their “objectives in war”.
At the end of the day, the Israeli Defense Forces announced More than 50 Palestinian group targets were bombed in the Rafah area.
According to Daniel Hagari, the army’s military spokesman, the bombings were carried out on “terrorist sites” located in the extreme south of the Palestinian territory in preparation for Israeli ground forces to enter East Rafah.
The ceasefire proposal involved three phases
According to Hamas, the proposal included several demands Ceasefire, Reconstruction of Gaza, Return of Displaced Persons and Exchange of Israeli Hostages by Palestinian prisoners.
A Hamas official in Gaza said the agreement “satisfies all parties,” adding that the ceasefire proposal consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days. In the second phase, the total withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza is expected..
The official also told Reuters that a delegation of the militant group would soon travel to Cairo to discuss the ceasefire agreement and the next steps to be taken.
The plan also foresees the return of displaced people to their homes, according to Al Jazeera, the Qatari television station closest to the North African country’s secret services, and Al-Qahera News, the Egyptian state television station.In Rafah, scenes of jubilation and gunfire followed Hamas’ announcement, according to reports by international journalists.
From the first day the ceasefire came into effect, Hamas releases three hostages every three daysWhile Israel will release “a disproportionate number of Palestinian prisoners,” it has yet to be agreed.
In turn, Jalil al-Haya, a member of the Hamas political leadership, told Al Jazeera The second phase of the agreement included a “permanent cessation of hostilities”. of Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The leader of the Islamic Movement also indicated that in the second and third phases of the agreement, there will be indirect negotiations with Israel, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, on the “conditions” for the next hostage exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
For months, Egypt and Qatar have been mediating talks between Israel and Hamas, seeking to resolve the conflict sparked by the Islamist movement’s Oct. 7 attack on Israeli territory.
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