Fate of Gaza cease fire deal hangs in balance, as Israel strikes Rafah
..Hamas says cease fire to be in three phases
Israel’s army said it has conducted “targeted strikes” against Hamas in Eastern Rafah, after urging civilians to leave.
The operations began after Hamas accepted a ceasefire deal, which was then rejected by Israel as “far from meeting Israel’s demands”
It is not clear exactly what Hamas has agreed to, but the proposal is thought to include the release of hostages and the return of displaced Palestinians within Gaza.
Before the strikes, Israel has urged 100,000 Palestinians to leave Eastern Rafah ahead of a “limited” military operation.
The Israeli military says it is not a wide-scale evacuation and evacuees will be directed to tent cities in Khan Younis and al-Mawasi.
The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 34,700 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run Health Ministry says.
Meanwhile, a Hamas deputy leader in Gaza told the Reuters news agency that the ceasefire terms it agreed to Monday included an Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap over three phases.
According to him, phase one would
involve a 42-day ceasefire period where Hamas releases 33 hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prioners from Israeli jails.
It would also involve Israel partially withdrawing troops from Gaza and allowing Palestinians to move freely from the South to North while phase two, involves another 42-day ceasefire period in which a “sustainable calm” would be restored to Gaza and Israeli troops would completely withdraw.
Hamas would also be expected to release Israeli reservists and some soldiers being held hostage in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners from jail.
He went further to explain that phase three would see the exchanging of bodies completed and the starting of reconstruction according to a plan overseen by Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations.
It would also see the end of the Gaza Strip’s complete blockade.
However, Israeli’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the agreement was “far from meeting Israel’s demands”, adding that he would send a team to Cairo to negotiate further.
