Israel begins Rafah offensive, rejects Hamas's Gaza ceasefire agreement

Israel has commenced its planned military offensive in Rafah hours after it rejected Hamas's proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that the Palestinian militant group's terms did not meet the "core demands" of the Jewish nation. Israel has also planned to continue further negotiations on a truce agreement.

As of Tuesday morning, Israeli tanks entered Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza, reaching as close as 200 metres from the border with Egypt, The Associated Press reported, citing Palestinian and Egyptian officials as saying.

In a statement on Monday, Hamas announced that it had accepted the deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and the group's chief, Ismail Haniyeh, informed the two mediating nations of its agreement.

However, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal fell short of the country's demands, and it would send a delegation to meet the negotiators in an effort to reach an agreement, Reuters news agency reported.

According to Qatar's Foreign Ministry, its delegation will travel to Cairo on Tuesday to resume "indirect negotiations" between Israel and Hamas.

On Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued evacuation orders to some 1 lakh residents of eastern Rafah after it struck the city in retaliation for a Hamas rocket attack on the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Israeli authorities said that three of its soldiers were killed in the Hamas attack, while Palestinian officials announced that the counter-attack in Rafah led to the death of 19 people, including a baby.