Gaza: Israel takes Rafah crossing as trick talks continue

Updated 2 hours ago

Israel’s army says it has seized Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt, after continuously bombarding eastern Rafah overnight.

Tanks moved in on the area, a vital entry point for aid, a day after Israel ordered civilians to evacuate the area.

Truce talks meanwhile are to resume in Cairo after Israel said terms which Hamas had agreed to were unacceptable.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected it as “far from Israel’s basic requirements”.

The country’s war cabinet voted to continue operations in Rafah, but is however sending a delegation to the talks in Cairo.

Mr Netanyahu’s comments came after Hamas said it had accepted truce terms offered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

It is not clear exactly what Hamas has agreed to, but it is believed differences lie in the making to do with ending or pausing the war.

“The ball is now in Israel’s court,” an official in the Palestinian group said.

Israel’s military warned Palestinians to evacuate eastern parts of Rafah ahead of the strikes, with more than 100,000 civilians affected by what Israel has called a “limited” operation.

Israel has long threatened an offensive against Hamas hold-outs in the city of 1.4 million people, many of whom have sought refuge there from Israeli offensives in other parts of Gaza.

Although hopes of a trick breakthrough were quickly dashed on Monday night, Israel said it would carry on negotiating.

“Even though the Hamas proposal is far from Israel’s basic requirements, Israel will send a delegation of mediators to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under conditions acceptable to Israel.”

At the same time, it added, Israel’s war cabinet had decided to continue the Rafah operation to “exert military pressure on Hamas to advance our war aims: the release of our hostages, destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future”.

Earlier in the day, Hamas put out a statement saying its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence chief of its “approval of their proposal regarding a ceasefire agreement”.

A senior Palestinian official familiar with the proposal told the BBC that Hamas had agreed to end “hostile activity forever” if the conditions were met.

That phrase hinted that Hamas might be contemplating the end of its armed struggle, although no further details were provided. That could reportedly come at the conclusion of a two-phase ceasefire deal, with each phase lasting 42 days.

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

During this period, Israeli troops would remain within Gaza. But within 11 days of the ceasefire coming into force, Israel would begin dismantling its military facilities in the center of the territory and would withdraw from Salah al-Din Road, which is the main north-south route, and the coastal road.

After 11 days, displaced Palestinians would be allowed to return to the north.

The second phase would conclude with a “sustainable long period of calm” and the complete lifting of the blockade of Gaza, according to the official.

US state department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters the US – which is trying to broker a deal along with Qatar and Egypt – was reviewing Hamas’s response and “discussing it with our partners”.

The war began when Hamas gunmen stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages.

More than 34,700 people have been killed in Gaza during the ensuing Israeli military campaign, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

A deal which lasted a week in November saw Hamas release 105 hostages in return for some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Israel says 128 hostages remain unaccounted for in Gaza, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead.