Hamas has agreed to a cease-fire agreement framework put forward by Egypt and Qatar, the terrorist group announced in a Monday statement.
The White House and State Department could not confirm the agreement as of press time, but a Hamas spokesperson confirmed it to Fox News Digital. Israel has not announced its stance on the framework. If it is approved, however, it would bring an extended pause to the fighting that has raged in Gaza for seven months.
‘The fighter brother Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement, had 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,’ the Hamas statement reads.
News of the agreement comes just as Israel appeared to be preparing for a ground assault on Rafah, the final stronghold of Hamas in Gaza. The city is also playing host to more than 1 million Gazans displaced from the north.
Israel urged Palestinians to flee Rafah ahead of the expected operation. Overnight on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that Israel was left with no choice but to act in Rafah after Hamas terrorists carried out a deadly rocket attack from Rafah earlier in the day that left four Israeli soldiers dead.
President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone about Rafah on Monday, Fox News has learned. Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah. According to Israel’s army, forces are beginning with a ‘limited scope operation.’
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesperson, said some 100,000 people were being ordered to move to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi. He said Israel published a map of the evacuation area.
These orders were issued through air-dropped leaflets, text messages and radio broadcasts so that Palestinians could get the information.
‘Anyone found near [militant] organizations endangers themselves and their family members. For your safety, the [army] urges you to evacuate immediately to the expanded humanitarian area,’ one flier reads.
Israel’s army said on the social media platform X that it would act with ‘extreme force’ against Hamas terrorists and urged the population to immediately evacuate for their safety.
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard and Trey Yingst contributed to this report.