Palestinians in Rafah on Monday celebrated the news that Hamas had tentatively agreed to a ceasefire proposal in its war with Israel — but one man warned that the people wouldn’t forget what happened.
“We will not forget and we will not forgive everything we have witnessed,” one man told Al Jazeera. “The Palestinians have survived, and we will survive until we get our freedom.”
The head of Hamas' political agency announced early Monday afternoon that it had tentatively accepted an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal. But, next steps are not clear: U.S. officials said they weren’t sure what version of a ceasefire proposal Hamas agreed to, so the details — including the length of any ceasefire — are not confirmed at this time.
Critically, Israel would have to agree to whatever Hamas greenlights. A few hours later, Israel’s military said it was striking Hamas targets in eastern Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the country’s war cabinet had “unanimously decided” to continue the operation in Rafah, but it added that Israel would send mediators to negotiate a ceasefire. Israel says the current proposal is “far from Israel’s requirements.”
