The Israel Defense Forces attacked Rafah, a city in the south, where many civilians are seeking refuge.
“The War Cabinet agreed that Israel will keep fighting in Rafah to pressure Hamas and achieve our goals,” said the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office on Monday.
This happened shortly after Hamas said yes to a cease-fire proposal brokered by Qatar and Egypt to stop the fighting in Gaza.
“Even though Hamas’ proposal isn’t what Israel wants, we’ll send negotiators to try to make a deal that works for us,” said the PM’s office.
Israel’s move into Rafah, which is important for sending aid, goes against the U.S.’s warnings not to attack there.
“We can’t control Israel’s military actions, but we’ve told them that attacking Rafah could harm over a million innocent people,” said John Kirby from the National Security Council at a White House briefing.
President Joe Biden gave the same message in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Monday.
Last week, the U.S. stopped sending weapons to Israel, including big bombs, confirmed two senior administration officials.
The White House is reviewing the cease-fire proposal but hasn’t decided yet.
“We’ll talk about it with Egypt, Qatar, and Israel, who’ve been part of these talks,” said Matthew Miller from the State Department at a press briefing.
The proposal suggests swapping 33 Palestinian prisoners for each Israeli hostage, plus making Israel stop military operations and fighting in Gaza.
Negotiations for releasing hostages got more intense over the weekend, with help from the U.S. CIA Director William Burns mediators from the U.S. CIA Director William Burns, and mediators from Egypt and Qatar. Burns kept talking on Monday after Hamas agreed to the cease-fire.
