ISRAEL responded to news that the Palestinian liberation movement in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, announced that it had accepted the Egyptian-Qatar ceasefire proposal. Having launched its first biggest attack on Rafah, Monday (6/5), Israel stated that it would send a delegation to the negotiating table in Cairo, Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the proposal approved by Hamas was far from Israel’s key demands. But Israel will still send a negotiating team to Egypt.
Apart from Egypt, Qatar will also send a delegation to Cairo on Tuesday (7/5) to continue indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
“The Qatari delegation will leave for Cairo on Tuesday (7/5) morning to continue indirect negotiations between the two parties,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
It is hoped that these negotiations will culminate in reaching an agreement for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. This news emerged not long following Israel agreed to carry out a land invasion in Rafah marked by bombing.
Israel’s war cabinet, Monday (6/5) evening, unanimously approved a military operation once morest the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. United States (US) President Joe Biden contacted Netanyahu who agreed with the terms of Israel’s attack plan in Rafah.
Also read: Hamas Moves to Cairo to Continue Ceasefire Discussions
During this phone call, Netanyahu agreed to the terms proposed by Biden. Biden asked that the Kerem Shalom crossing be opened for humanitarian assistance.
Unlike the US, France, which is also an ally of Israel, opposes aggression in Rafah. Even the French foreign ministry responded to the attack on Rafah and declared the forced displacement of civilians a war crime under international law.
The Israeli army, Monday (6/5), called on around 100 thousand residents of the Gaza Strip to leave eastern Rafah.
Also read: Netanyahu agrees to more talks, five Gaza residents die in food aid
“A ground invasion of Rafah cannot be tolerated,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
He called on Israel and Hamas to work harder to reach a ceasefire agreement.
At least 34,735 Palestinians have been killed and some 78,108 people injured in Israeli military attacks on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.
Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli data, and 132 people remain missing. (France24/AFP/Z-1)
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