JERUSALEM: Israel’s government Monday said it will send a delegation to mediators to discuss a Gaza truce proposal accepted by Hamas though it said Hamas response for Gaza truce was ‘far’ from Israel’s demands,
“Even though the Hamas proposal is far from Israel’s essential demands, Israel will send a working-level delegation to the mediators,” PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement following a war cabinet meeting.
The statement further said that the war cabinet was unanimous in deciding that Israel will continue the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to ensure the release of the hostages and achieve the other objectives of the war.
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Earlier in the day, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh informed mediators Egypt and Qatar that the Palestinian resistance group had accepted their proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza after nearly seven months of relentless Israeli bombardment.
A senior Hamas official said Monday that Israel must decide whether it accepts or “obstructs” a truce in Gaza after the Palestinian resistance group announced it had accepted mediators’ latest proposal.
