Hamas agrees to ceasefire but ‘deal’ not acceptable to Israel

The exodus in Rafah had already begun when, late on Monday, Hamas issued a statement saying it would accept the ceasefire deal. It is a dramatic development after seven months of bloody conflict in Gaza.

But the deal is not done, with an Israeli official quoted in the past few minutes saying that Hamas had agreed to a softened version of the proposed deal, that was not acceptable to Israel.

Is this all last minute brinkmanship or could the possibility of peace slip away again?