War in Gaza: Israel attacks Rafah after Hamas accepts ceasefire proposal

Updated 2 hours ago

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced this Monday (6/5) that they are carrying out attacks on “specific targets” in the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

The attacks – about which Israel promised to provide more details soon – come shortly after the leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas accepted the terms of a proposed ceasefire with Israel negotiated by the governments of Egypt and Qatar.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he intends to send a delegation to negotiate a ceasefire but that, in the meantime, the campaign in Rafah will continue.

Netanyahu also said that the proposal accepted by Hamas is far from corresponding to “Israel’s demands.”

A senior Palestinian official familiar with the ceasefire agreement says Hamas has agreed to end “hostile activity forever” if the conditions of the truce are met.

According to Rushdi Abualouf, the BBC’s Gaza correspondent, the phrase suggests that Hamas may be contemplating an end to its armed struggle, although no further details were provided.

The agreement accepted by the group provides for a ceasefire in two phases, lasting 42 days each.

The first phase would include the release of female Israeli soldiers held hostage in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners each, including some serving life sentences.

During this period, Israeli troops would remain in Gaza – but within 11 days of the ceasefire coming into force, Israel must begin dismantling its military installations in the center of the Gaza Strip and must withdraw from the Salahuddin Road and the Coastal.

After 11 days, Palestinians would be allowed to return to the north of the Gaza Strip.

The second phase would end with a “long sustainable period of calm” and the complete lifting of the blockade on Gaza, the BBC correspondent reports.

The Israeli army ordered Palestinians to abandon some areas east of the city of Rafah, in anticipation of a “limited” operation in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Around 100,000 people were directed this Monday to head to an “expanded humanitarian zone” in Khan Yunis and Al-Mawasi.

The United Nations (UN) and the United States warn that an attack on Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are taking refuge, could have catastrophic consequences.

A senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, told Reuters that the Israeli order represented “a dangerous escalation that will have consequences.”

Netanyahu has insisted for months that victory against Hamas cannot be achieved without a full-scale offensive in Rafah.

According to his government, the four remaining Hamas battalions, numbering thousands of fighters, are hiding there.

The head of European Union (EU) diplomacy, Josep Borrell, described Monday’s evacuation order as “unacceptable”.

“The EU, together with the international community, can and must act to avoid this scenario,” he wrote in X.

US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Netanyahu about Rafah on Monday.

Biden “reiterated his clear position” that he does not support an invasion of Rafah without a plan to help the civilians sheltering there.

According to the White House, Netanyahu “agreed to ensure that the Kerem Shalom border crossing is open for humanitarian aid to those in need.”

There, four Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hamas rocket attack on Sunday.

On Monday afternoon, Israel announced it was carrying out strikes on “specific targets” in Rafah, but gave no further details.