GAZA/JERUSALEM   -   Hamas Monday announced that Ismail Haniyeh, head of its political bureau, has told Qatari and Egyptian mediators that Hamas has agreed to their proposal for a ceasefire agreement.

The statement said that Haniyeh “made a phone call to the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and to the Egyptian Minister of Intelligence Mr. Abbas Kamel, and informed them of Hamas’ agreement to their proposal regarding a ceasefire agreement.”

A member of Hamas’ political bureau, Basem Naim, told CNN that Hamas is waiting for an Israeli response to its agreement to a ceasefire and hostage deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar. It’s unclear whether Hamas has agreed to the proposal as outlined last week, or a revised version of it.

As news spread in Gaza of Hamas’ announcement, there were celebrations in the streets in several places, including in Deir el Balah, central Gaza, and in Gaza City.

On the other hand, Israel’s war cabinet decides unanimously to push ahead with an operation in Rafah “in order to apply military pressure on Hamas, with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims,” the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement. The statement says Hamas’s latest truce offer is “far from Israel’s essential demands.” Nonetheless, Israel is going to send working-level teams to hold talks with the mediators in order “to exhaust the possibility of achieving an agreement on terms that are acceptable to Israel,” says the PMO.

‘100,000 people being evacuated from Rafah’

The Israeli army said Monday it was evacuating about 100,000 people from eastern Rafah, ahead of an expected ground assault in the southern city of Gaza.

“The estimate is around 100,000 people,” a military spokesman told journalists when asked how many people were being evacuated.

About 1.2 million people are currently sheltering in Rafah, according to the World Health Organization, most having fled there from elsewhere in Gaza during the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants.

The evacuation “is part of our plans to dismantle Hamas ... we had a violent reminder of their presence and their operational abilities in Rafah yesterday,” the military spokesman said.

“This is an evacuation plan to get people out of harm’s way.”

On Sunday, three Israeli soldiers were killed and a dozen wounded, the army said, when a barrage of rockets was fired towards the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza.

The army said the rockets were fired from an area adjacent to Rafah.

The soldiers were hit while guarding heavy machinery, tanks and bulldozers stationed in the area.

Rain fell on Monday as the army airdropped leaflets advising about the evacuation, an AFP correspondent said.

Hamas’s armed wing claimed the rocket attack, which led Israeli authorities to close the crossing, used to deliver aid into Gaza.

Germany says Gaza truce talks must not be ‘jeopardised’

Germany on Monday called on all parties to continue with negotiations towards a truce in Gaza after disagreements between Israel and Hamas appeared to intensify at weekend talks in Cairo.

Israel ordered the evacuation of Palestinians from eastern Rafah earlier Monday, following stalled talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo over the group’s demands to end the seven-month war.

The evacuation announcement came ahead of a long-threatened ground invasion of the southern Gaza city, which triggered widespread global alarm.

“The negotiations must not be jeopardised and all sides must make maximum efforts to ensure that the people in Gaza are supplied with humanitarian goods... and that the hostages are freed,” a foreign ministry spokeswoman told a government press briefing.

On Sunday, four Israeli soldiers were killed and others wounded, the army said, when a barrage of rockets was fired towards the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza.

The armed wing of Hamas has claimed the rocket attack, which led Israeli authorities to close the crossing, used to deliver aid into Gaza.