Israel’s military carried out airstrikes in Rafah on Monday, after the truce proposal failed with Hamas in Cairo, Egypt.
According to reports, Israel has announced plans to evacuate parts of Rafah, a city located on Gaza’s southern border and a safe haven for around half of the 2.3 million people. The announcement of the evacuation has raised concerns as fears are growing about a possible full-blown assault in Rafah against holdouts of the Palestinian militant group Hamas due to stalled ceasefire talks in Cairo.
“Forcing over a million displaced Palestinians from Rafah to evacuate without a safe destination is not only unlawful but would lead to catastrophic consequences,” British charity ActionAid said.
Earlier on Monday, a truce proposal on Gaza was not accepted by Israel but was approved by Hamas, according to an Israeli official. Hamas had previously announced that it had approved a proposal from mediators in Qatar and Egypt.
The Israeli official claimed that the proposal was a softened version for Hamas by the Egyptians and not on the terms of Israel. They said, “This would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal.”
Hamas announced in a brief statement that its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had notified mediators from Qatar and Egypt that the group approved of their ceasefire plan. However, the statement provided no information about the agreement.
Comments are closed.