The Hamas terrorist organization announced this evening (Monday) that it has decided to agree to a ceasefire proposal.
The terrorist organization's announcement states that "Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh spoke with the Prime Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and with the head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel and informed them of Hamas's agreement to the ceasefire proposal."
The deputy chairman of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, told the Al-Jazeera network that the proposal includes three stages - a complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced to northern Gaza, and an exchange of prisoners, as he called the return of an unknown number of hostages in exchange for terrorists in Israeli prisons.
The announcement comes after days in which the terrorist organization dragged its feet announcing its decision on the issue.
Kan News reported that an Israeli source stated, "This is a deception by Hamas. Right now we are not taking Hamas' answer seriously. This is an answer to a one-sided Egyptian proposal. First we will receive Hamas' answer and study it."
Israeli officials said that although an official answer has not yet been received, but as long as there are indeed guarantees for the end of the war - Israel will not agree.
The Hamas announcement comes after Israel began evacuating residents from the Rafah area in preparation for a possible operation and after Israel issued a one-week ultimatum to Hamas to deliver a positive response to the proposal, otherwise, the IDF would enter Rafah.
In addition, the announcement follows reports that the hostage talks were on the verge of collapse and that Hamas was suspending the negotiations.