The Hamas militant group says it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal to halt its seven-month war with Israel, per the AP. It issued a statement Monday saying its supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had delivered the news in a phone call with Qatar's prime minister and Egypt's intelligence minister. The announcement came hours after Israel ordered Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah ahead of an Israeli military operation. There was no immediate comment from Israel, and it was unclear whether the deal would stave off the operation.
However, news of Hamas' announcement sent people in Rafah cheering into the streets. Details of the proposal were not immediately released. But in recent days, Egyptian and Hamas officials have said the ceasefire would take place in a series of stages in which Hamas would release hostages it is holding in exchange for Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza. It is not clear whether the deal will meet Hamas' key demand of bringing about an end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal.
(More
Israel-Hamas war stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
