Hamas Reportedly Agrees to Ceasefire Proposal

Update (1303 EST): Israel has reportedly not received confirmation of the acceptance. However, the accepted proposal is reportedly a “softened” version of the Israeli proposal which Israel will not accept.

Update (1249 EST):

Hamas Political Bureau Head Haniyeh has confirmed the group accepted the proposal. The announcement reads below:

“The mujahid brother Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement, made a phone call with the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, and with the Egyptian Minister of Intelligence, Mr. Abbas Kamel, and informed them of the Hamas movement’s approval of their proposal regarding the ceasefire agreement.”

According to Al Jazeera, a senior Hamas official disclosed the group’s leadership agreed to the Egyptian and Qatari-brokered ceasefire.

This comes as IDF operations in Rafah are beginning in earnest after several days of waiting for a Hamas response to the most recent Israeli ceasefire proposal. After a Hamas rocket strike on Kerem Shalom killed four IDF troops on May 5th, the Israeli government ordered the evacuation of civilians from Eastern Rafah and preparation fires to begin.

It is not clear if this revelation will prevent the Israeli operation into Rafah.

This is developing.

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