Israel turns focus to attack Rafah as Hamas weighs ceasefire proposal 

Jerusalem: Israel prepared to advance its war on Gaza farther south, close to the Egyptian border, after claiming to have dismantled Hamas in Khan Younis, as diplomatic efforts in pursuit of a ceasefire accelerated.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that success in the fight against the Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where Israel launched a major ground attack last week, meant its forces could advance to Rafah on the enclave's southern border.

More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are sheltering in this area, mainly cold and hungry in makeshift tents and public buildings.

"We are achieving our missions in Khan Younis, and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate terror elements that threaten us," Gallant said in a statement.

At the same time, Qatari and Egyptian mediators hoped for a positive response from Hamas to the first concrete proposal for an extended halt to fighting, agreed with Israel and the US at talks in Paris last week.

A Palestinian official told that the text envisages a first phase of 40 days, during which fighting would cease while Hamas freed remaining civilians among the more than 100 hostages it still holds.

Further phases would see the handover of Israeli soldiers and bodies of dead hostages.