Hamas has accepted the framework of the ceasefire agreement proposed by Egypt and Qatar, the movement announced in a statement on Monday.
The White House and State Department were unable to confirm the deal as of press time, but a Hamas spokesperson confirmed it to Fox News Digital. Israel has not announced its position on this framework. But if approved, it would bring a long pause in the fighting that has raged in Gaza for seven months.
“Fighting brother Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement, telephoned the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, and the Egyptian Minister of Intelligence, Mr. Abbas Kamel, and informed them of the "approval by the Hamas movement of their proposal regarding the ceasefire agreement."
News of the deal comes at a time when Israel appeared to be preparing for a ground attack on Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza. The city also hosts more than a million Gazans displaced from the north.
Israel urged Palestinians to flee Rafah ahead of the planned operation. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday evening that Israel had no choice but to act on Rafah after Hamas terrorists carried out a deadly attack on the rocket from Rafah earlier today, which killed four Israeli soldiers.
Fox News has learned that President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone about Rafah on Monday. Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged to carry out a military operation in Rafah. According to the Israeli army, the forces launched a “limited-scale operation”.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said about 100,000 people had been ordered to move to a nearby humanitarian zone declared by Israel, called Al-Mawasi. He added that Israel had published a map of the evacuation zone.
These orders were issued via airdrops, text messages and radio broadcasts so that Palestinians could obtain information.
“Anyone who is near [extremist] organizations puts themselves and their family members in danger. For your safety, [the army] urges you to immediately evacuate to the expanded humanitarian zone,” it reads in a message.
The Israeli military said on social media platform X that it would act with "excessive force" against Hamas terrorists and urged residents to evacuate immediately for their safety.