Netanyahu rejects Gaza ceasefire deal, Israeli strikes kill 19 in Rafah

Here are the latest developments:

• Hamas’s military wing Al-Qassam Brigades said that it fired rockets at an Israeli army base by the crossing without mentioning the location. A Hamas source said that the border crossing was not the target.

• The Israeli military said it struck the launcher from which the Hamas projectiles were fired, as well as a nearby “military structure”, reports Reuters.

• Gaza health officials said that the Israeli strikes hit two houses in Rafah, killing 19 people. In one house, four children, including a baby, and two adults were killed, who were all from the same family.

• The latest round of negotiations in Cairo for a ceasefire in Gaza ended on Sunday, The Associated Press reported. Israel didn’t send a delegation to participate in the talks. The Hamas delegation will return to Cairo for fresh negotiations on Tuesday.

• Israeli media has reported that chief of the US Central Intelligence Agency William Burns will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced international criticism of the war in Gaza and said, “No amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum, will stop Israel from defending itself… If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone”.

• While rejecting the ceasefire proposals, he said, “We are not prepared to accept a situation in which the Hamas brigades come out of their bunkers, take control of Gaza again, rebuild their military infrastructure, and return to threatening the citizens of Israel in the settlements surrounding the southern mountains, in all parts of the country.”

• Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned of “a powerful operation in the very near future in Rafah and other places across all of Gaza”. He claimed Hamas wasn’t serious about a ceasefire agreement.

• The closing of Kerem Shalom on Sunday came after the head of the UN World Food Program asserted a “full-blown famine” in northern Gaza. This was not a formal famine declaration.

• Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023, at least 34,683 people have been killed in Gaza and over 77,900 others injured. The fatalities in Israel stood at about 1,200. Of the 252 hostages kidnapped by Hamas, 128 are still unaccounted for and at least 34 are presumed dead.