Israel rejects 'watered-down' ceasefire proposal, but talks continue

Israel’s war cabinet suggests it is determined to proceed with a full-scale ground offensive into Rafah.

Transcript

00:00Israel has rejected a ceasefire deal with Hamas, with officials criticising it as watered

00:07down and far from the country's basic demands.

00:11Details of what was in the proposal have been scarce, but it's believed to have included

00:16an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of the Israeli

00:21military from Gaza.

00:24The news that Hamas had agreed to the proposal was met with jubilation on the streets of

00:29Rafah among Gaza's war-weary population.

00:47But just hours after Hamas agreed to the deal, Israel launched what it called targeted strikes

00:52against the group's positions in Rafah.

00:55More than 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering in the city after being advised to relocate

01:01there by the Israeli military, who declared it a safe zone.

01:07Earlier in the day, the IDF ordered 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate to a humanitarian

01:13zone in the coastal municipality of al-Mawassi.

01:18Israel's war cabinet says it's determined to proceed with a full-scale ground offensive

01:22into Rafah to eliminate the Hamas battalions reportedly based there.

01:27Those plans have been met with fierce international criticism.

01:33Today's evacuation orders for East Rafah will only worsen the civilians' suffering.

01:39They are being instructed to relocate to al-Masawi, which is already overcrowded and lacking safety

01:46and essential humanitarian services.

01:49A mass evacuation on this scale is impossible to carry out safely.

01:55Meanwhile, protests have continued in Tel Aviv.

01:59Demonstrators are hoping to push the government to bring home the Israeli hostages from Gaza.

02:05Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would send a delegation to meet with

02:09negotiators to try to reach an agreement acceptable to both sides.