An Egyptian-proposed ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas appears to have fallen apart. Though Israeli officials agreed to its terms—which would end airstrikes into Gaza starting earlier this morning—the military arm of Hamas rejected it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement after agreeing to the terms, “If Hamas rejects the Egyptian proposal and the rocket fire from Gaza does not cease—and that appears to be the case—we are prepared to continue and intensify our operation and protect our people.” Since then, the airstrikes have restarted as Hamas continues their campaign of launching rockets into Israel. According to CNN, at least 190 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the recent surge in violence.
There seemed to be some conflicted messages coming from Hamas about the agreement. The military wing of Hamas issued a statement indicating they had no intention of observing the ceasefire, saying they “reject altogether the proposal, which for us is not worth the ink that it was written with.” However, a senior member of Hamas’ political party, Mousa Abumarzook, initially said on his Facebook page that “We are still discussing and there is no official position yet from the movement on the Egyptian initiative.” According to a Reuters report, Hamas has made a number of demands for the ceasefire including an end to the blockade of Gaze, the lifting of restrictions at the Egyptian border crossing and “the release of hundreds of its activists arrested in the West Bank while Israel searched for the three missing teens” …
