Hamas accepts cease-fire proposal for Gaza, but Israel's stance still uncertain

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but there was no immediate word from Israel, leaving it uncertain whether a deal had been sealed to bring a halt to the seven-month-long war in Gaza.

It was the first glimmer of hope that a deal might avert further bloodshed. Hours earlier, Israel ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah, signalling that an attack was imminent.

The United States and other key allies of Israel oppose an offensive on Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza's population, are sheltering.

An official familiar with Israeli thinking said Israeli officials were examining the proposal, but the plan approved by Hamas was not the framework Israel proposed.

An American official also said the US was still waiting to learn more about the Hamas position and whether it reflected an agreement to what had already been signed off on by Israel and international negotiators or something else. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as a stance was still being formulated.

Details of the proposal have not been released. Touring the region last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pressed Hamas to take the deal, and Egyptian officials said it called for a cease-fire of multiple stages starting with a limited hostage release and some Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza.

The two sides would also negotiate a "permanent calm" that would lead to a full hostage release and greater Israeli withdrawal, they said.

Hamas had been seeking changes in the language to guarantee its key demand of an end to the war and complete Israeli withdrawal in return for the release of all its hostages, according to Egyptian officials. It was not immediately known if any changes were made.

Palestinians in Rafah erupted in cheers after the Hamas announcement, hoping it meant the invasion would be averted — though that remained unclear.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have repeatedly rejected a trade-off for an end to the war in return for the hostages' release, vowing to keep up their campaign until Hamas is destroyed.

Netanyahu said Monday that seizing Rafah, which Israel says is the last significant Hamas stronghold in Gaza, was vital to ensuring the militants can't rebuild their military capabilities and repeat the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

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