Despite Hamas' last-minute attempts at delay, Israel's war cabinet has "voted unanimously to continue the operation in Rafah 'to put military pressure on Hamas to advance the freeing of our hostages, and the other war aims.'"

#BREAKING Israel's war cabinet (that's Netanyahu, Gallant and Gantz) voted unanimously to continue the operation in Rafah "to put military pressure on Hamas to advance the freeing of our hostages, and the other war aims."

In addition, Israel is sending negotiators "to exhaust…

— Lahav Harkov 🎗️ (@LahavHarkov) May 6, 2024

Just a few hours before the Monday night vote, Hamas announced via Egypt and Qatar that they had accepted a ceasefire deal. Shortly after that announcement hit the news, both Israeli and U.S. officials said the deal was "unknown" to them and that it wasn't discussed in a phone conversation President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier in the day.

According to Avi Meyer, former Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief:

A senior Israeli official says Hamas's announcement that it agrees to a ceasefire proposal with which Israel is unfamiliar is "a deception," meant to portray Israel as the party standing in the way of a deal

And PBS' foreign correspondent Nick Schifrin said, "Two Israeli officials confirm to me that Hamas has NOT accepted the deal that was on the table."

Of course, Hamas' friends in the mainstream media tried to cover for the terror group, with Reuters reporting that the ceasefire terms Hamas announced agreement to were "similar" to terms that Israel had agreed to a week and a half ago. Israel denies that.

MSNBC correspondent Ali Velshi described the terms of Hamas' phantom ceasefire deal as:

A senior source familiar with the proposal says Hamas has accepted a 3-phase deal:

-1 Israeli hostage for 33 Palestinian prisoners BASED ON SENIORITY OF DETENTION in Israeli prison

-Stopping military operations permanently. The proposal does not use the word “ceasefire” but “the permanent halt to Israeli military operations and hostilities in Gaza.” 

-Each phase encompasses the return of Israeli hostages from eldest, women, sick and finally soldiers.

Although it's clear to everyone that Hamas isn't seriously seeking any type of resolution short of destruction of Israel, both Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would send a delegation to Cairo to participate in further ceasefire negotiations, and the border crossing Hamas bombed Sunday (killing three IDF soldiers) was reopened for humanitarian assistance.

Gantz added that the Israeli military operation in Rafah is “an integral part” of efforts to bring the hostages home and change the security reality in Israel’s south. https://t.co/knqv8zpmwI

— Avi Mayer אבי מאיר (@AviMayer) May 6, 2024

One has to wonder if there are really any hostages left alive; that would partly describe Hamas' actions. If there aren't, Hamas leadership has to know that as soon as that's confirmed Israel's actions will not be restrained. And they shouldn't be.