Hamas says it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal to halt the seven-month war with Israel.
Hamas has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal.The group announced on Monday it has accepted the proposal to end the seven-month-long war with Israel.Palestinians could be seen celebrating on the streets of Rafah following the announcement.Israel made no immediate comment.Details of the proposal were not immediately released, though Hamas and Egyptian officials have said in recent days that a ceasefire would include a series of stages where Hamas releases hostages in exchange for Israeli troop pullbacks.Qatar and Egypt have been mediating between Hamas and Israel for months in an attempt to broker an agreement.It is not yet clear whether the agreed-to deal will meet Hamas’ key demand of ending the war and complete Israeli withdrawal.The announcement comes as the Israeli military issued an evacuation order to 100,000 Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah, indicating that the long-anticipated ground invasion is imminent.Israel has described Rafah as the last major stronghold of Hamas after about seven months of conflict. Tel Aviv insists that a ground invasion is necessary to defeat Hamas, which initiated the current conflict with an attack on Israel on October 7.
Source: euronews.com