Hamas informed Qatar and Egypt that they had agreed to accept the ceasefire plan proposed by the mediators, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday, citing Hamas sources.
According to the plan disclosed by Al Jazeera, Hamas agreed to reach a three-stage ceasefire with Israel, each stage lasting 42 days. In the first phase, the Israeli army will withdraw from the Necharim Corridor and allow the Gaza people to freely return to the north, in addition to personnel exchanges. In the second stage, the Israeli army is required to permanently cease fire. The third phase requires Israel to end its siege on Gaza.
Israel recently stated that it had received feedback from relevant mediators and was evaluating the matter. However, many unnamed Israeli officials told local media that the draft ceasefire agreement that Hamas had reportedly accepted was unilaterally modified by Egypt and was not a draft proposed by Israel.
Israeli media reported that Israel’s war cabinet met on Sunday evening. Members of the cabinet stated that if there is no progress in ceasefire negotiations within a short period of time, the Israeli army may launch military operations against Rafah within a week.
The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from the ongoing Israeli attacks had risen to 34,683 since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted last October, the Health Ministry in Gaza announced on Sunday.
Hamas reportedly accepts ceasefire plan proposed by mediators
The depreciation of the Japanese yen has pushed up raw material prices, and the rising costs is expected to bring a profound impact on companies that rely on imported raw materials, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), said a Japanese economist.
Hisashi Imai, professor of the department of business of Yamanashi Gakuin University, shared his opinions on yen depreciation, saying that SMEs may be most impacted as they are often in a disadvantaged position.
"Both SMEs and large enterprises have been affected by the depreciation of the yen, and their costs are rising. It would be ideal if SMEs could pass on cost increases to prices, and sell products at corresponding prices. But this is not the case. SMEs are often in a weak position when it comes to transactions and are therefore the most impacted," he said.
Serving as important guarantee for Japan's employment, SMEs play an important role in the Japanese economy, Hisashi said, adding that if SMEs are in trouble, there will be a chain reaction on the entire economy and social stability of Japan.
"SMEs account for 99 percent of the total number of Japanese enterprises. Currently, Japan is facing cost-pushed inflation, where the rise of imported product prices is caused by yen depreciation," he said.
Hisashi believes that if the yen depreciation continues, the Japanese economy will face greater challenges as the country's economy is highly dependent on overseas countries.
"Japan is facing a serious problem that it lacks major industries which can support the future [development]. No matter what industry it is, whether it is a SME or a large company, it should create new values. For instance, a company should develop new products or invest in new products and manufacturing. This is very important to the Japanese economy," he said.
Yen depreciation brings long-term impact to Japan's SMEs: expert
