The Palestinian militant group Hamas said it had agreed to a cease-fire proposal for the Gaza Strip, but Israel’s war Cabinet unanimously rejected it as "far from Israel’s necessary demands,” dashing hopes for an immediate pause in the fighting.
Israel vowed to continue "its operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas” but also said it will send a delegation to meet with mediators "to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement.” In a statement later Monday, the Israel Defense Forces announced fresh airstrikes against Hamas targets in the Rafah area.
The Israeli response followed hours after Hamas had posted a statement on Telegram saying that Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas political office, had accepted a Qatari and Egyptian cease-fire proposal. Questions were raised almost immediately about the details, with both U.S. and Israeli officials saying they were studying the Hamas response.