Hamas Accepts Gaza Truce But Israel Continues Rafah Attacks

Hamas has announced its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel said the deal did not meet its “core demands” and that it was pushing ahead with an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Hamas' abrupt acceptance of the cease-fire deal came hours after Israel ordered an evacuation of some 100,000 Palestinians from eastern neighborhoods of Rafah, signaling an invasion was imminent. I Photo: Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken Wikimedia Commons

Still, Israel said it would continue negotiations, Sam Mednick, Josef Federman and Bassem Mroue reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive — but only barely — for an accord that could bring at least a pause in the 7-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.

Hanging over the wrangling was the threat of an all-out Israeli assault on Rafah, a move the US strongly opposes and that aid groups warn will be disastrous for some 1.4 million Palestinians taking refuge there.

Hamas's abrupt acceptance of the cease-fire deal came hours after Israel ordered an evacuation of some 100,000 Palestinians from eastern neighborhoods of Rafah, signaling an invasion was imminent.

The Israeli military said it was conducting “targeted strikes” against Hamas in eastern Rafah.

Soon after, Israeli tanks entered Rafah, reaching as close as 200 meters (yards) from Rafah’s crossing with neighboring Egypt, a Palestinian security official and an Egyptian official said.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The reported incursion came a day after Hamas militants killed four Israeli soldiers in a mortar attack that Israel said originated near the Rafah crossing, Samy Magdy, Lee Keath, and Zeke Miller also reported for AP.