The Palestinian militant group Hamas said Monday that it has agreed to a cease-fire brokered by Egypt and Qatar which aims to end the seven-month war with Israel. The insurgent group announced in a statement that the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, signaled to mediators that it would accept the proposal.
There was no comment from Israel, and State Department spokesman Mark Miller said the U.S. government had just learned of the Hamas move and was still studying the proposal on the table. CIA Director William Burns has been in the region trying to help fashion a deal.
Hamas said the deal would return the displaced residents of Gaza, complete the prisoner exchange deal, and allow for reconstruction and relief efforts in the Palestinian enclave.
“The movement affirms its positive and responsible approach and its keenness and determination to reach an agreement that meets the national demands of our people, ends the aggression completely [and] achieves withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip,” Hamas said on its Telegram page.
Israeli officials have not released a statement about the cease-fire proposal. It comes as the Israel Defense Forces had been planning for an operation into Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip where the last remnants of Hamas are believed to be operating. The Biden administration has been pressuring the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on the assault as the cease-fire talks proceeded.
The IDF told residents of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million civilians are sheltering, to leave ahead of the expected ground assault on the southern Gaza city.
Hamas has sought a permanent cease-fire that would, in effect, end the war that began in October 2023 when Hamas fighters stormed across the border and killed at least 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and took hundreds of others hostage. Israel wants a temporary halt in the fighting that would allow for the exchange of hostages being held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners.