GAZA: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Monday informed mediators Qatar and Egypt that his Palestinian group had accepted their proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza after nearly seven months of war. “Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas movement, conducted a telephone call with the prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and with the Egyptian intelligence minister, Mr Abbas Kamel, and informed them of Hamas’ approval of their proposal regarding a ceasefire agreement,” the group said in a statement published on its official website.

A senior Hamas official said Monday the Zionist entity must decide whether it accepts or “obstructs” a truce in Gaza. “After Hamas agreed to the mediators’ proposal for a ceasefire, the ball is now in the court of (Zionist) occupation, whether it will agree to the ceasefire agreement or obstruct it,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.

Crowds cheered and fired in the air in the streets of the southern Gaza city of Rafah after Hamas said it approved the ceasefire proposal. People were crying tears of happiness, chanting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) and shooting in the air in celebration of the news, an AFP correspondent said.

The Zionist entity earlier ordered Palestinians to leave eastern Rafah Monday ahead of a ground invasion of the city, amid increasing global alarm about the consequences of such a move. The evacuation call followed a rocket attack claimed by Hamas’ armed wing that killed four Zionist soldiers on Sunday. Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to send ground troops into Rafah regardless of any truce, defying international concerns.

US President Joe Biden on Monday “reiterated his clear position” to Netanyahu against an invasion of Rafah, the White House said. The two leaders spoke as Biden mounted a diplomatic offensive to get ceasefire talks between the Zionist entity and Hamas back on track, with Jordan’s King Abdullah II due at the White House for lunch. Biden did not respond to shouted questions and walked straight to the Oval Office from his helicopter, Marine One, after returning to the White House from a weekend at his family home in Wilmington, Delaware.

Earlier, a spokesman for the US National Security Council announced the Biden-Netanyahu call, saying “we have made our views clear on a major ground invasion of Rafah to the (Zionist) government”. “We continue to believe that a hostage deal is the best way to preserve the lives of the hostages, and avoid an invasion of Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering,” the spokesman told AFP.

Hamas said the Zionist entity was planning a large-scale offensive “without regard for the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe” in the besieged Gaza Strip or for the fate of captives held there. A Palestinian presidency statement called on Washington to prevent a “massacre” in Rafah. Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi posted on X: “Another massacre of the Palestinians is in the making... All must act now to prevent it.”

UNICEF warned that around 600,000 children packed into Rafah face “further catastrophe”. Gazan civil defense and aid officials said Zionist jets had struck areas of Rafah including Al-Shuka and Al-Salam, both of which had been told to evacuate. The Palestinian Red Crescent said “thousands” of Gazans were on the move, leaving eastern Rafah.

In a statement, the Zionist military ordered residents of eastern Rafah to head for the “expanded humanitarian area” at Al-Mawasi on the coast. But aid groups said the Zionist-designated safe zone was not ready for an influx of people. “The area is already overstretched and devoid of vital services”, said Norwegian Refugee Council director Jan Egeland.

The main aid group in Gaza, UNRWA, said “a (Zionist) offensive in Rafah would mean more civilian suffering and deaths”. The UN agency “is not evacuating”, it added. Asked how many people should move, a Zionist military spokesman said: “The estimate is around 100,000 people.” The Red Crescent said the designated evacuation zone hosts around 250,000 people, many of them already uprooted from elsewhere.

Abdul Rahman Abu Jazar, 36, said the area his family was told to seek refuge in “does not have enough room for us to make tents” because it is already full. “Where we can go?” he asked. On Monday EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell called the evacuation orders “unacceptable” and urged the Zionist entity to “renounce” a ground offensive. The French foreign ministry said it “strongly opposed” an offensive on Rafah.

The Zionist offensive has killed at least 34,735 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry. About 1.2 million people are sheltering in Rafah, according to the World Health Organization. Soon after the war started, the Zionist entity told Palestinians in northern Gaza to move south to “safe zones” — including Rafah near the Egyptian border.

But Rafah has been repeatedly bombed — including on Monday after the evacuation order — and Palestinians say nowhere in Gaza is safe. Emergency workers said air strikes killed 16 people in Rafah on Sunday, hours after Hamas rocket fire killed the Zionist soldiers in the Kerem Shalom border crossing area. – AFP