Israel Begins Rafah Strikes After Hamas Agrees to Ceasefire

Israeli leadership is pressing forward with a planned offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah despite U.S. protests and an announcement by Hamas that the group would agree to a ceasefire proposal mediated by Qatar and Egypt.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday that it had begun "conducting targeted strikes against Hamas terror targets in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip."

Hours earlier — coming after the IDF announced a "temporary evacuation" of residents in parts of Rafah — Hamas issued a statement saying the head of the group's Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed senior Qatari and Egypt officials of a breakthrough in the months-long negotiations for a new ceasefire.

In calls with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel, Haniyeh "informed them of the Hamas movement's approval of their proposal regarding the ceasefire agreement," according to the statement.

Shortly afterward, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying that "Israel's war cabinet has unanimously decided that Israel will continue the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to advance the release of our hostages, destroy Hamas military and governing capabilities and ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future."

The statement, confirmed to Newsweek by a spokesperson for Netanyahu's office, added that "even though the Hamas proposal is far from Israel's necessary requirements, Israel will send a delegation to mediators to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under conditions acceptable by Israel."

U.S. officials have advocated for a six-week ceasefire that would allow for the release of around 130 hostages still held by Hamas, and have called on Israel not to move forward with a Rafah incursion, citing humanitarian concerns. Around 1.5 million Palestinians who have fled fighting elsewhere in the densely populated territory are estimated to be in Rafah.

Speaking to reporters at a press briefing Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that President Joe Biden's administration was "still reviewing" the contents of Hamas' response and whether it pertained to a U.S.-endorsed proposal that he said was on the table.

Miller also reiterated the U.S. position that it "cannot support an operation in Rafah as it is currently envisioned." He said U.S. officials have "made clear" to Netanyahu and other Israeli officials that "we have not seen a humanitarian plan that is credible and that is implementable, and we believe a military operation in Rafah right now would dramatically increase the suffering of the Palestinian people, would lead to an increase in loss of civilian life, would dramatically disrupt the delivery of humanitarian assistance."

Miller noted that the U.S. has proposed that Israel pursue other military options in Rafah that involved "a much more limited, much more targeted, much more effective way of achieving their legitimate military objectives."

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his U.S. counterpart Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that "there was no choice left and this meant the start of the Israeli operation in Rafah." On Monday, Gallant released a partially censored photo on social media showing him sitting down with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Operations Director chief Major General Oded Basyuk "in a discussion about the IDF's operational plans, which will soon begin in the Rafah area and other places in the Gaza Strip."

Also on Monday, prior to the statements issued by Hamas and Netanyahu's office, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu to discuss "the shared commitment of Israel and the United States to remember the six million Jews who were systematically targeted and murdered in the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters in human history, and to forcefully act against antisemitism and all forms of hate-fueled violence," according to a White House readout of the call, which took place on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Biden also "updated" Netanyahu "on efforts to secure a hostage deal, including through ongoing talks today in Doha, Qatar." Netanyahu was said to have "agreed to ensure the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for humanitarian assistance for those in need," while Biden "reiterated his clear position on Rafah."

Newsweek has reached out to Hamas for further comment.

Netanyahu has previously said he would carry out the offensive in Rafah with or without a ceasefire deal and whether Washington backed the move or not. Meanwhile, protests continued to erupt in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as the families of hostages and their supporters took to the streets demanding Israel reach a deal to secure the release of the captives.

In his statement announcing the beginning of "limited" evacuations in Rafah on Sunday, IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani vowed to conduct the relocations in a "safe and secure way," including the expansion of humanitarian activities and a campaign of alerts being issued via text messages, phone calls, flyers and media broadcasts in Arabic.

"We are conducting situational assessments and operating according to an orderly and graded plan," Shoshani said at the time. "The IDF is progressing in accordance with the operational plans and the goals of the war — to dismantle Hamas and to create the conditions for the release of the hostages."

On Monday, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari called upon those in designated conflict in areas in Rafah "to move towards the expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi and Khan Yunis, where they will receive full humanitarian aid and where water, food, medical equipment, and shelter will be provided."

Hostilities continued to rage on the ground even prior to the commencement of new IDF operations in Rafah on Monday, and throughout the course of talks taking place abroad.

Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced on Sunday the launching of rockets toward the direction of the Kerem Shalom Crossing, where the IDF said three soldiers were killed by enemy fire. The Al-Qassam Brigades also claimed attacks on the former Israeli settlement of Netzarim in Gaza and released footage Monday said to depict Rajoum multiple launch rocket systems used in the operations.

The IDF, for its part, conducted strikes across central and southern Gaza on Sunday and Monday, claiming the killing of a senior Hamas Bureij Battalion member and three Hamas Nukhba Force operatives, along with additional Hamas personnel, equipment and infrastructure in Rafah and other locations. The IDF also reported Monday on new siren alerts near Gaza in the areas of Kibbutz Gevim, Sapir College and other communities.

Violence continued on the northern front as well. The Lebanese Hezbollah movement claimed over a dozen strikes against Israel between Sunday and Monday "in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance," while the IDF reported using fighter jets and artillery fire to conduct dozens of strikes in southern Lebanon as well as against one site in eastern Lebanon and another site in Syria in response to attacks.

Hagari said the IDF was also working alongside Shin Bet and the Israel Border Agency to conduct operations "to thwart terrorism" in the West Bank, especially in the city of Tulkarm, where a member of Israel's Yamam counterterrorism unit was reported to be seriously injured during a clash with a Hamas cell.

Hamas later issued statements in which Haniyeh was said to have further confirmed his movement's agreement to the ceasefire proposal in separate conversations with Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi and Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziyad al-Nakhalah, whose group is involved in frontline fighting alongside Hamas against the IDF in Gaza.

In Haniyeh's conversation with Nakhalah, the two leaders "reviewed the procedures required to ensure the implementation of the agreement after the resistance took its decision based on a conscious vision of developments in the current situation at all levels," according to the Hamas readout.

"It was also stressed that the resistance factions will not back down from their demands included in the proposal they agreed to," the statement added, "most notably a ceasefire, comprehensive withdrawal, honorable exchange, reconstruction and lifting the siege."

This is a developing news story. More information will be added as it becomes available.