Israeli troops take control of Rafah crossing on the Gaza side

The Israeli military took control of the vital Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday, pushing into the southern Gazan town after a night of air strikes and as prospects for a ceasefire deal hung in the balance.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas said late on Monday it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from mediators seven months into the war that has pushed more than a million Gazans into the south of the enclave.

Israel said the terms did not meet its demands and launched "a precise counter-terrorism operation" in Rafah, a move that appears to echo Israel's threat to invade what it says is Hamas' last stronghold.

Israeli tanks and planes pounded several areas and houses in Rafah overnight, killing 20 Palestinians and wounding several others in strikes that hit at least four houses, Palestinian health officials said.

"The Israeli occupation has sentenced the residents of the Strip to death after closure of the Rafah border crossing," said Hisham Edwan, spokesman for the Gaza Border Crossing Authority. It also condemned to death cancer patients due to the collapse of the healthcare system, he added.

A major incursion into Rafah, which the United Nations humanitarian aid agency said would be "nothing short of a tragedy beyond words," would threaten to alienate Israel from its allies and further escalate tensions in the Middle East.

Rafah crossing closed

The Rafah crossing, which has served as a major passage for aid into Gaza, was closed after Israeli tanks moved into the area.

The United States has been pressing Israel not to launch a military campaign in Rafah until it had drawn up a humanitarian plan for the Palestinians sheltering there, which Washington says it has yet to see.

Israel said the vast majority of people had been evacuated from the area of military operations.

Instructed by Arabic text messages, phone calls and flyers to move to what the Israeli military called an "expanded humanitarian zone" around 20 km (12 miles) away, some Palestinian families began trundling away in chilly spring rain.

Some piled children and possessions onto donkey carts, while others left by pick-up or on foot through muddy streets.

Israel said its evacuation calls were initially for "around 100,000 people" to move, but aid groups and displaced Gazans warned that the area to which they were directed was already overcrowded, leaving little room for new arrivals.

Truce talks in Cairo

Hamas said in a brief statement that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators the group accepted their proposal for a ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said later the truce proposal fell short of Israel's demands but Israel would send a delegation to meet with negotiators to try to reach an agreement.

Qatar's foreign ministry said its delegation will head to Cairo on Tuesday to resume indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

In a statement, Netanyahu's office said his war cabinet approved continuing an operation in Rafah, which he has said Israeli forces will enter with or without a deal for ceasefire. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on social media site X that Netanyahu was jeopardizing a ceasefire by bombing Rafah.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington would discuss the Hamas response with its allies in the coming hours.

Hamas' approval of the proposal came after the U.S. reportedly asked Qatar to expel the groups' leaders from Qatari soil should it not accept a deal. 

A deal is "absolutely achievable," Miller said.

Two unnamed Israeli officials gave their different accounts for Israel's rejection of the Hamas response, according to a Reuters report. 

One said the proposal that Hamas approved was a watered-down version of an Egyptian offer and appeared "to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal." The other said Hamas had agreed to the phased ceasefire and hostage release deal Israel proposed on April 27 with only minor changes that did not affect the main parts of the proposal.

(With input from agencies)