Spontaneous marches took place in various areas of the Gaza Strip on Monday evening, rejoicing over the Hamas movement’s announcement of its approval of the ceasefire proposal with Israel.

According to local sources, thousands of Palestinians took out spontaneous marches in the streets and camps of the cities of Rafah, Khan Yunis, Deir al-Balah and the Nuseirat camp, rejoicing at the announcement of Hamas’ approval of a ceasefire proposal.

The Palestinians also distributed sweets to each other in the hope of ending the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip for about 7 months, which left tens of thousands dead and wounded and massive material destruction.

Earlier Monday, the Hamas movement said, in a statement, that the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, informed Qatar and Egypt of the movement’s approval of the two mediating countries’ proposal regarding a ceasefire agreement with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

The private Cairo News Channel also reported, citing a source it described as high-ranking, without naming him, that a Hamas delegation will arrive in the Egyptian capital, on Tuesday, to complete prisoner exchange negotiations with Israel and a ceasefire in Gaza.

These developments come after the Israeli occupation army announced on Monday the start of a military operation in Rafah and the start of the “forcible” evacuation of Palestinian residents from the eastern neighborhoods of the Rafah area to the Al-Mawasi area, southwest of the Gaza Strip.

The area that the Israeli army was directed to evacuate includes the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, which is the main crossing point for humanitarian aid into Gaza and the only one used to transport seriously injured people to receive treatment abroad due to the scarcity of medical capabilities in the Strip’s hospitals. As a result of the war and Israeli restrictions.

With the mediation of Egypt and Qatar and the participation of the United States, Israel and Hamas have been conducting indirect negotiations for months, while Tel Aviv has continued its war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 133 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, while Hamas announced that 70 of them were killed in random raids launched by Israel, which holds at least 9,500 Palestinians in its prisons.

The Israeli war on Gaza left about 113,000 dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and massive famine that claimed the lives of children and women.

Israel continues the war despite the issuance of a resolution by the UN Security Council to stop the fighting immediately, and also despite the International Court of Justice demanding immediate measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.