hamas-accepts-gaza-truce-proposal-amid-rafah-evacuation-orders

Hamas announced on Monday that it had accepted a proposal for a truce in the seven-month Gaza war after Israel ordered Palestinians in Rafah to leave ahead of a long-awaited invasion of the city.

The Hamas declaration sent ecstatic crowds to the streets, some with tears of joy amid chanting of "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and celebratory firing in the air.

 

Although Israel is yet to respond on the matter, the United States said it was "reviewing" Hamas' statement.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was quoted as saying that he told mediators in "Qatar and Egypt about Hamas’s official stance on the proposal regarding the ceasefire agreement".

Another senior Hamas official said Israel now had to decide whether to accept or "obstruct" a truce in Palestinian land following seven months of fighting.
He told reporters, "The ball is now in the court of the Israeli occupation, whether it will agree to the ceasefire agreement or obstruct it."

Earlier in the day, Israel ordered Palestinians to evacuate Rafah amid growing worldwide concerns over the ramifications of an Israeli ground assault on the southern Gaza enclave bordering Egypt.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, denounced the directive as "impossible to carry out safely."

According to Egyptian state-run media, talks for a truce stopped after four Israeli troops were killed in a rocket strike, responsibility for which was claimed by Hamas' armed wing on Sunday.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to send ground forces into Rafah regardless of any truce, despite international objections.

 

Meanwhile, US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said that the situation in the Middle East was still being reviewed and discussed with regional partners. CIA Director Bill Burns was in the region working on this in real-time, he added.

 

UN human rights head Volker Turk in a statement Israel's evacuation order on Monday "inhumane" and "contrary to the basic principles of international humanitarian and human rights laws."