Still,Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would send negotiators to continue talks on the deal.
Makeshift tents for displaced Palestinians at a camp in Rafah,southern Gaza.Bloomberg
The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive – but only barely – for an accord that could bring at least a pause in the seven-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
Hanging over the wrangling was the threat of an all-out Israeli assault on Rafah,a move that the United States strongly opposes and that aid groups warn will be disastrous for some 1.4 million Palestinians taking refuge there.
Hamas’s abrupt acceptance of the ceasefire deal came hours after Israel ordered an evacuation of Palestinians from eastern neighbourhoods of Rafah,signalling an invasion was imminent.
Netanyahu’s office said that the proposal Hamas accepted was “far from Israel’s essential demands,” but that it would nonetheless send negotiators to continue talks on a deal.
At the same time,the Israeli military said it was conducting “targeted strikes” against Hamas in eastern Rafah. The nature of the strikes was not immediately known,but the move may aim to keep the pressure of the Rafah threat on as talks continue.
Palestinians flee from the eastern side of the southern Gaza city of Rafah after the Israeli army orders them to evacuate ahead of a military operation.AP
US President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu and reiterated American concerns about an invasion of Rafah,telling him a ceasefire was the best way to protect the lives of Israeli hostages,according to a National Security Council spokesperson,speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the call before an official White House statement was released.
Earlier,Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators early on Tuesday (AEDT) that the group accepted their ceasefire proposal,according to a brief statement from Hamas,which gave no details of the accord.
Discussion of the ceasefire comes as Australia is preparing to cast a potentially controversial vote on whether to admit Palestine as a full member of the United Nations,a move that would be applauded by Palestinian advocates but denounced by Israel as rewarding the militant group’s October 7 terrorist attacks.
Australia mulls over ‘Palestine for UN’ motion
Intense,high-level manoeuvring among international diplomats before the UN vote,due later this week in New York,came as the an estimated 100,000 Palestinians out of the southern Gazan city of Rafah ahead of a long-planned ground invasion.
“The IDF will continue pursuing Hamas everywhere in Gaza until all the hostages that they’re holding in captivity are back home,” the Israeli military said earlier in a social media post referencing the more than 100 Israeli hostages still believed to be held in Gaza.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong’s office issued a statement on Monday night urging Israel not to invade Rafah:“Australia is gravely concerned by the prospect of a major Israeli ground offensive into Rafah. More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has sought shelter in Rafah,from the fighting elsewhere. Australia,the G7 and so many countries have called on the Netanyahu government to change course.
“The foreign minister has made clear Australia’s view that Israel should not go down this path.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese,US President Joe Biden and other world leaders have – where about 1.5 million Palestinians have been sheltering after fleeing fighting in other parts of Gaza – because of the risk to civilian lives.
The Israeli government has said it is necessary to conduct ground operations in Rafah to dismantle the group’s remaining battalions.
All UN member states will be invited to cast a vote in the General Assembly on Friday (US time) on whether Palestine should be admitted to the global body as a fully fledged member,elevating it from its current observer status.
The US used its veto power to block a at the UN Security Council last month,but the proposal attracted the support of 12 of the 15 voting nations,including France,South Korea and Japan.
The General Assembly vote is symbolic,but would be seen as an important litmus test for the level of support in the international community for Palestinian statehood.
Wong in which she floated the prospect of recognising Palestine before a final peace deal with Israel,alarming local pro-Israel advocates.
As continue to expand on Australian university campuses,Albanese,at a press conference on Monday,opposed the widely used “From the river to the sea,Palestine will be free” chant because he said it dismissed the two-state solution.
The government previously angered the Israeli embassy in Canberra by voting for a in the war in Gaza and by to the UN Relief and Works Agency in the Palestinian territories.
Ambassadors from nations that supported the on full Palestinian UN membership were summoned for protest meetings in Israel following the vote.
“The unambiguous message that will be delivered to the ambassadors:a political gesture to the Palestinians and a call to recognise a Palestinian state – six months after the October 7 massacre – is a prize for terrorism,” Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Oren Marmorstein said at the time.
The Albanese government,which has the option to abstain from voting,has not reached a final decision because the precise wording of the resolution is still being decided.
A draft General Assembly resolution circulating among member states describes Palestine as “a peace-loving state” that should be granted “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation in the sessions and work of the General Assembly ... on equal footing with member states”.
In a potential problem for the government given Australia’s close relationship with the US,the draft resolution expresses “deep regret and concern” that one permanent member vetoed the April Security Council resolution on admitting Palestine to the UN.
Palestine is represented at the UN by the Palestinian Authority,which is dominated by Fatah,a more moderate political rival to Hamas.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni called for the government to seize a “historic opportunity” to support Palestinian self-determination.
“The Palestinian people must be granted their basic,inherent right to participate in decision-making at UN level,about issues that directly concern their lives and political aspirations,” he said.
“It’s outrageous that Palestine’s bid for self-determination via UN membership has been stalled and blocked since it first applied in 2011,as part of the ongoing process by Israel,backed by the US,to erase,invisibilise,suppress and ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin urged the government to reject the resolution and pursue a “meaningful two-state solution instead of pandering to a Palestinian delusion”.
“A Palestinian state cannot simply be declared into existence. It has to exist in fact,” he said.
Australia on whether to grant Palestine observer status in 2012 after cabinet rolled then-prime minister Julia Gillard,who wanted to vote no.
with Reuters,AP
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