Hamas says it accepts cease-fire as Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate eastern Rafah

BEIRUT — Hamas announced Monday that it had accepted a proposal for a cease-fire agreement with Israel, a diplomatic breakthrough that came hours after Israel ordered civilians hunkered in eastern Rafah to evacuate in what was seen as a prelude to a long-anticipated offensive on the area.

In a statement on the messaging service Telegram, Hamas announced that the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, had spoken by phone with the Qatari prime minister and the Egyptian minister of intelligence to inform them of the group’s “approval of their proposal regarding the cease-fire agreement.”

The details of just what that proposal entails remain unclear, and Israel has yet to accept the terms.

But the announcement marked a moment of optimism after months of agonizing negotiations, with Qatar, Egypt and the United States pushing for a cease-fire that remained stubbornly out of reach. It also came after CIA Director William Burns spent the weekend shuttling among Arab capitals in intense last-ditch talks to push the cease-fire agreement.

Hamas made its announcement hours after Israel’s military began dropping leaflets in eastern Rafah ordering people there to evacuate immediately. Israel has been threatening for weeks — against U.S. advice— to launch a major military ground operation on the city where more than a million displaced Gazans have taken refuge. Israel argues the last remaining Hamas battalions are holed up in Rafah, while the U.S., United Nations and others say any military invasion would spell humanitarian disaster for the people there.

In recent days, Israel insisted that an attack on Rafah would go through whether a deal was forged or not, and that a truce would not include an end to hostilities, while Hamas demanded that as a condition for any deal. The cease-fire is seen as a way to clear the release of several dozen of the Israeli and American hostages that Hamas holds.

Bulos reported from Beirut and Wilkinson from Washington.