Fate of Gaza ceasefire uncertain, Israel vows to continue Rafah operation

RAFAH, Gaza Strip/CAIRO/JERUSALEM — Palestinian militant group Hamas on May 6 agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal from mediators, but Israel said the terms did not meet its demands and pressed ahead with strikes in Rafah while planning to continue negotiations on a deal.

The developments in the seven-month-old war came as Israeli forces struck Rafah on Gaza's southern edge from the air and ground and ordered residents to leave parts of the city, which has been a refuge for more than a million displaced Palestinians.

Hamas said in a brief statement that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the group accepted their proposal for a ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said later that Hamas' latest truce proposal falls short of Israel's demands but Israel would send a delegation to meet with negotiators to try to reach an agreement.

In a statement, Netanyahu's office added that his war Cabinet approved continuing an operation in Rafah.

"The war Cabinet unanimously decided that Israel continue the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to advance the release of our hostages and the other goals of the war," the statement said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Hamas "to go the extra mile needed to make an agreement," his spokesman said.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity said the proposal that Hamas accepted was a watered-down version of an Egyptian offer and included elements that Israel could not accept.

"This would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal," said the Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

But an official briefed on the peace talks, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the offer Hamas accepted was effectively the same as one agreed at the end of April by Israel.

A US official familiar with truce negotiations told Reuters that Netanyahu and the war Cabinet "have not appeared to approach the latest phase of negotiations in good faith."

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington would discuss the Hamas response with its allies in the coming hours, and a deal was "absolutely achievable".

"We want to get these hostages out, we want to get a ceasefire in place for six weeks, we want to increase humanitarian assistance," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said, adding that reaching an agreement would be the "absolute best outcome".

More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to Gaza health officials. The UN has said famine is imminent in the enclave.

The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Rafah hit by strikes

Any truce would be the first pause in fighting since a week-long ceasefire in November, during which Hamas freed around half of the hostages its fighters captured in the Oct 7 attack that precipitated the war.

Since then, all efforts to reach a new truce have foundered over Hamas' refusal to free more hostages without a promise of a permanent end to the conflict, and Israel's insistence that it would discuss only a temporary pause.

Taher Al-Nono, a Hamas official and adviser to Haniyeh, told Reuters the proposal had met the group's demands, including reconstruction efforts in Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians and a swop of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The Hamas deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil Al-Hayya, told Al Jazeera television the proposal included three phases, each of six weeks, with Israel to pull its troops out of Gaza in the second phase.

Earlier on May 6, Israel ordered the evacuation of parts of Rafah, the city on Gaza's southern edge that has served as the last sanctuary for around half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents.

Israel's closest ally, the United States, has called on it not to assault Rafah, saying it must not do so without a full plan in place to protect civilians there, which has yet to be presented. Washington is committed to stopping Israel's attack on Rafah, the US official said.

Israel said on May 6 it was conducting limited operations on the eastern part of Rafah.

That was being accompanied by massive air strikes, according to Palestinian residents.

"They have been firing since last night and today after the evacuation orders the bombardment became more intense because they want to frighten us to leave," Mr Jaber Abu Nazly, a 40-year old father of two told Reuters via a chat app.

"Some families already left, others are wondering whether there is any place safe in the whole of Gaza," he added.

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Overnight, Israeli planes had hit 10 houses, killing 20 people, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military said it had struck the site in Rafah from which the previous day's rocket had been launched at its troops.

Instructed by Arabic text messages, phone calls, and flyers to move to what the Israeli military called an "expanded humanitarian zone" around 20km away, some Palestinian families began trundling away in chilly spring rain.

Some piled children and possessions onto donkey carts, while others left by pick-up or on foot through muddy streets.

Mr Abdullah Al-Najar said this was the fourth time he had been displaced since the fighting began seven months ago, as families dismantled tents and folded belongings.

"God knows where we will go now. We have not decided yet."

Mr Nick Maynard, a British surgeon trying to leave Gaza on May 6, said in a voice message from the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing into Egypt: "Two huge bombs have just gone off immediately outside the crossing. There's a lot of gunfire as well about 100 metres from us. We are very unclear whether we will get out."

"Driving through Rafah, the tension was palpable with people evacuating as rapidly as they could."

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