Hamas announces it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal

It is not clear whether the deal will meet Hamas’s key demand of bringing about an end to the war and complete Israeli withdrawal.

An Israeli tank overlooks the Gaza Strip (Tsafrir Abayov/AP)

Hamas has announced it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a ceasefire to halt the seven-month war with Israel in Gaza.

It came hours after Israel ordered about 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern city of Rafah, signalling that a long-promised ground invasion could be imminent.