A top Hamas official said on Saturday that the Islamist militant group is studying an Israeli counterproposal regarding a potential ceasefire in Gaza, as a ground assault on the city of Rafah looms. “Hamas will examine this proposal and submit a response,” Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of the group’s political arm in Gaza, said in a statement posted on Telegram. He said the Israeli side was responding to a proposal Hamas had presented to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on April 13. Negotiations aimed at releasing hostages held by militants in the Gaza Strip and securing a ceasefire in the dev…