Hamas says its accepting Gaza cease-fire proposal disrupts Netanyahu's calculations

ISTANBUL

Hamas said Tuesday that its acceptance of a Gaza cease-fire proposal has left Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government in a quandary.

“The movement’s acceptance to the proposed cease-fire agreement in Gaza has put Netanyahu and his government in a predicament, disrupting their narrow personal calculations,” Osama Hamda, a member of Hamas' politburo, said at a news conference in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

He added that the responsibility now lies with Netanyahu and his “extremist” Cabinet members. “Now the ball is in his court,” he said.

Hamas said Monday that it accepted a Gaza cease-fire proposal drawn by Egypt and Qatar.

A Palestinian source told Anadolu that the proposal includes a three-stage truce.

The first will last 40 days and includes a temporary cessation of military operations and Israeli troop withdrawal to the eastern areas of the Gaza Strip except for the Wadi Gaza area, which separates the territory’s north from its south, said the source.

After the release of all Israeli women held by Hamas, the Israeli army will withdraw from the Al-Rasheed coastal road to the east to allow access to humanitarian aid and the unhindered return of the displaced to their homes, he added.

Netanyahu’s Office said the offer accepted by Hamas does not meet its key demands. The War Cabinet decided to push ahead with an operation in Rafah to apply "military pressure on Hamas with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which killed less than 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,100 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli onslaught, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul