The Israeli Defense Cabinet decided, on Monday evening, unanimously to continue the military operation in Rafah, which is crowded with displaced Palestinians, after Hamas announced its acceptance of the Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a truce.

The Council said in a statement: “The War Cabinet unanimously decided that Israel would continue its operation in Rafah in order to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to promote the release of our hostages and achieve the other goals of the war.”

He added: “Although Hamas’s proposal is far from Israel’s necessary requirements, Israel will send a delegation of mediators to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under conditions acceptable to Israel.”

Meanwhile, an Israeli army statement said, “IDF forces are now attacking and carrying out operations against targets of the Hamas terrorist organization in a targeted manner in the eastern Rafah area.”

Palestinian media said that Israeli aircraft carried out fire belts and launched raids east of the city of Rafah.

Meanwhile, the Hebrew Channel 14 said that the Israeli army was launching intense attacks in Rafah coinciding with the entry of ground forces into the eastern region of the city, shortly after Hamas agreed to the truce proposal.

On Monday evening, the Israeli army repeated its call on residents of the eastern neighborhoods of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip to evacuate the area, in preparation for a “ground operation,” after the Hamas movement announced its approval of a ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar.