Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Monday informed mediators Qatar and Egypt that his Palestinian militant group had accepted their proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza after nearly seven months of war.
Haniyeh had engaged in phone conversations with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel, where he informed them of Hamas’s acceptance of the proposed ceasefire agreement.
A senior Hamas official however stressed that “this does not mean that the ceasefire has come into effect yet”, pointing out that “the Israeli side has not yet communicated its position”.
“The ball is now in the court of the Israeli occupation, whether it will agree to the ceasefire agreement or obstruct it,” another senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the negotiations.
The announcement by Hamas followed Israel’s call on Monday for Palestinians to evacuate eastern Rafah in advance of a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city, a move that has alarmed people all over the world.
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Following Hamas’s announcement, crowds in Rafah, where residents had expressed fear and confusion over the evacuation order, cheered and fired into the air, according to an AFP correspondent.
The correspondent reported that in celebration of the news, people were shooting in the air, crying happy tears, and chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest).
After months of sporadic diplomacy, mediators have been unable to bring about a fresh ceasefire similar to the one that last November saw the release of 105 hostages, including Israelis in return for Palestinians detained by Israel.
Previous attempts at negotiation had faltered partly due to Netanyahu’s threats to destroy Hamas’s surviving fighters in Rafah and the organization’s demand for an indefinite ceasefire.
Following Hamas’s historic October 7 attack on Israel, which claimed the lives of over 1,170 people, the majority of whom were civilians, an AFP tally of Israeli official figures shows that the bloodiest war in Gaza’s history got underway.
Of the hostages taken by militants on October 7, Israel estimates that 128 are still in Gaza, including 35 that the military claims are dead.
According to the health ministry of the Hamas-run territory, Israel has carried out a retaliatory offensive in Gaza that has killed at least 34,735 people, mostly women and children, while vowing to destroy Hamas.
