The news is everywhere that Hamas has accepted a ceasefire deal offered by Egypt and Qatar, but Israel suggests this is nothing more than a trick. Israeli officials said that this so-called deal is not one that Israel had agreed to and it makes no mention of the hostages.
One official said it’s just a ruse to make Israel look like it’s the one refusing a deal.
Here’s more from Times of Israel:
Israeli officials are cautioning against taking at face value Hamas’s announcement that it accepts a ceasefire deal.
Officials tell networks Kan, 12, and 13 that the terms Hamas accepted are not those that Israel agreed to.
According to the officials quoted by the networks, the offer Hamas has accepted is one made unilaterally by Egypt and is not being taken seriously in Jerusalem before the details are clarified.
An Israeli official tells Reuters that the Hamas announcement appears to be a ruse designed to cast Israel as the side refusing a deal.
Hamas announcement that it accepts a ceasefire comes soon after US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and with CIA chief Bill Burns having shuttled from Doha to Jerusalem today.
A considerable part of the Biden-Netanyahu call was devoted to the efforts to reach a truce-for-hostages deal.
A US National Security Council spokesperson said earlier today that Biden, in the call, reiterated his concerns about an IDF invasion of Rafah and said he believes reaching a ceasefire with Hamas is the best way to protect the lives of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.