There were scenes of celebration in Gaza last Monday, as word spread that Hamas had accepted the terms of an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal.
But the same day, Israel rejected the deal. Its military has since ordered more evacuations and pushed further into Rafah, considered a last refuge for over 1 million Gazans displaced by the war.
So what would it take for Israel to agree to a ceasefire? If it wants the safety of hostages, why didn’t it take a deal to release them? And what could the human cost of this last push for Israel’s “total victory” be?
Julian Borger is the Guardian's world affairs editor.
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