Hamas Sends Message on his Readiness for a ceasefire
Hamas has told the Qatari and Egyptian mediators that it agreed to the Qatari-Egyptian ceasefire proposal, the terror group told Al Jazeera on Monday evening.
Earlier today, it was reported that Hamas suspended hostage talks as Israel ignored the warnings of world leaders and pushed forward with plans for a military operation in Rafah, starting with the evacuation of Palestinians from that area of Gaza on Monday.
"We confirm that any military offensive in Rafah will not be a picnic to the fascist occupation army,” Hamas said in a statement. “Our brave resistance on top of them, the Qassam Brigades, is fully prepared to defend our people and defeat this enemy.”
A Hamas source told Al Araby Al Jadeed that it had suspended third-party talks for a hostage deal, which it had participated in along with CIA Director William Burns and Egyptian and Qatari officials in Cairo on Sunday.
Israel had been expected to send a delegation, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opted not to have a team attend, preferring to wait for a formal from Hamas.
The Hamas team left Cairo on Sunday, with plans to return on Tuesday. Burn went to Doha to consul to with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani, and is expected to visit Israel this week.
Kerem Shalom attack caused ceasefire talks to falter
US President Joe Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for half an hour on Monday and was also expected to hold a private meeting in the White House with Jordan’s King Abdullah.
Egypt worked to contain the damage to negotiations, which were also harmed by the Hamas attack Sunday on the Kerem Shalom crossing that killed four soldiers.
An Egyptian source told Al-Qahera News that it was the Kerem Shalom attack Sunday that caused the talks to falter.
At issue had been Hama's insistence on a permanent ceasefire, with Israel standing firm that it could only accept a pause to the war because it was determined to conduct a military operation in Rafah to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions there.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote on X that “Israel's evacuation orders to civilians in Rafah portend the worst: more war and famine. It is unacceptable.
“Israel must renounce” its "ground offensive,” he stated, adding that the EU and the international community can and “must act to prevent such a scenario.”
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna stressed on X her country’s opposition to the Rafah operation, explaining that French President Emmanuel Macron had explained this to Netanyahu when the two spoke on Sunday.
The French Foreign Ministry told reporters that the “forced displacement of a civilian population constitutes a war crime under international law."
Belgian Vice Premier Petra De Sutter warned that a Rafah “invasion will lead to a massacre.”
"Belgium is working on further sanctions against [Israel],” she wrote in a post on X.
De Sutter has been a fierce and early critic of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza that began on October 7, calling already in November for sanctions against the Jewish state.
The international community, including the United States, has feared a Rafah operation would lead to a humanitarian disaster for the over 1.3 million Palestinians located there, many of whom sought shelter there to escape Israeli bombardments in northern Gaza at the start of the war.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is the main organization that services Palestinian refugees, wrote on X that “an Israeli offensive in #Rafah would mean more civilian suffering [and] deaths. The consequences would be devastating for 1.4 million people."
UNRWA “is not evacuating” Palestinians from Rafah, it stressed, adding that “Agency will maintain a presence in Rafah as long as possible [and[ will continue providing lifesaving aid to people.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke overnight with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, updating him on the Kerem Shalom attack and Israel’s pending Rafah operation.
Gallant indicated that “at this stage, Hamas refuses the frameworks at hand" and “emphasized that military action is required, including in the area of Rafah, at the lack of an alternative,” according to the Defense Ministry
“The State of Israel will not tolerate the ongoing presence of terrorist frameworks bordering its communities and is committed to achieving the goals of the war - the destruction of Hamas as a military and governing authority, and the return of 132 hostages,” Gallant said.
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