An Israeli official said on Monday no ceasefire had been agreed in Gaza, after Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
The Israeli official said the proposal that Hamas had accepted was a “softened” version of an Egyptian proposal, which included “far-reaching” conclusions that Israel could not accept.
“This would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal,” said the Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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World leaders call for de-escalation after Iran launches air attack on Israel
World leaders call for de-escalation after Iran launches air attack on Israel
The proposal that Hamas has agreed to is a three-phased agreement, and each is 42 days long, the group’s deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, told Al Jazeera on Monday.
Al-Hayya also said the second stage of the agreement stipulates a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Earlier, Hamas said in a brief statement that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the group accepted their ceasefire proposal. The statement gave no details of the accord.
Early on Tuesday Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry, said the truce proposal could be described as positive.
A Qatari delegation will head to Cairo on Tuesday to resume indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas through the mediators, al-Ansari added in a statement.
Crowds cheered and fired in the air in the streets of Rafah, and people were crying tears of happiness, chanting “Allahu akbar” [God is great] in celebration of the news, an Agence France-Presse correspondent said.
The White House said it was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire and a hostage release deal, but declined to give any details of what was agreed.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters the United States will discuss Hamas’ response to the proposal in the coming hours.
CIA Director William Burns was in the region having discussions on the ceasefire proposal, White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“We want to get these hostages out, we want to get a ceasefire in place for six weeks, we want to increase humanitarian assistance,” Kirby said, adding that reaching an agreement would be the “absolute best outcome”.
Families of hostages held in Gaza demanded that Israel seize the “opportunity” provided by Hamas.
Monday’s deal “must pave the way for the return of the … hostages held captive by Hamas for the past seven months,” the Hostage Families and Missing Families Forum said in a statement, insisting that “now is the time for all that are involved to fulfil their commitment and turn this opportunity into a deal for the return of all the hostages”.
There has been no successful agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza since a week-long pause in the fighting in November.
The Hamas announcement of an agreement came hours after Israel ordered the evacuation of parts of Rafah, the city on Gaza’s southern edge that has served as the last sanctuary for around half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse