Negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a hostage deal have been put on hold as the fighting in Rafah appears to have expanded on the ground, officials said.
The terror group’s delegation in Cairo has mostly stepped away from the negotiating table following the IDF’s advances in Rafah, southern Gaza’s most populous city, sources familiar with the talks told Politico.
Hamas is allegedly still willing to continue the talks, with US mediators in Qatar working to keep the negotiations going with the Jewish state.
The terror group’s stance comes as Israel’s own negotiation team departed from Cairo without setting a date for their return, the Times of Israel reports.
While the US and world leaders have stressed the importance of keeping the negotiation channels open between Hamas and Israel, the hope for a cease-fire deal has taken a hit following Israel’s incursion into Rafah, which houses more than a million refugees.
Israeli tanks seized control of the Rafah Crossing on Tuesday, with armored vehicles and troops engaging in skirmishes with Hamas terrorists in the city outskirts as thousands of Palestinians attempted to flee the city.
While Israeli and US officials said the operation was limited to the areas surrounding the city, satellite images of the city suggest the IDF has advanced more than a mile inside the enclave in Gaza.
The images of Rafah, taken by Planet Labs following the IDF’s mobilization, show several buildings and roads past the border bulldozed, with tracks from armored vehicles visible on the ground.
The visuals also bear a striking resemblance to the aftermath following the IDFs advancement into northern Gaza when Israel’s ground offensive began last year.
The IDF, however, maintains that it is conducting a “precise counterterrorism operation” focused on eastern Rafah, where at least 30 Hamas gunmen have been killed during building raids.
The Jewish state announced the start of its operation in Rafah after Hamas rejected its latest cease-fire deal and proposed its own on Monday, which Israeli leaders slammed as “deception” for including non-starters like calling for a permanent end to the war.
The Hamas deal also sought to include dead bodies in the proposed hostage exchange that asked for the release of 33 hostages.
News of the deal had led to preemptive celebrations in the streets of Gaza as civilians believed the fighting would stop.
The Hamas proposal came after the Israeli military sent out evacuation warnings to thousands of Palestinians in Rafah.
Despite facing opposition from the US over the fear that more civilians would be caught up in the fighting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that military pressure is the best way to free the more than 130 hostages in Gaza.
Netanyahu is allegedly ready to reject any hostage deal that would stop the operation in Rafah from proceeding, former and current US officials told NBC News.
The prime minister has reiterated that the IDF will not withdraw from Gaza until all of Hamas is eradicated, with the Israeli military believing that four terror battalions are operating in Rafah.
