Hamas ready for ceasefire with Israel, group's official tells mediators in Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye

A senior official in the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, hailing the truce that took hold in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, has said that the group is ready to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.

“We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” the official said, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

He accuses Israel of obstructing an agreement.

Officials from the US and Israel had expressed hopes as the Lebanon ceasefire took shape that the loss of Hezbollah’s military support would help push Hamas to sue for peace.

Earlier, a Hamas spokesman publicized the movement's very intention to conclude a truce with the Jewish state.

The group has long maintained that it wants a ceasefire but has been unwilling to meet Israeli demands on hostages, according to Jerusalem. International mediators say Israeli demands regarding leaving troops in Gaza have also been an obstacle, blaming both sides for the impasse.

Let's recall that in the early hours of November 27, a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah came into effect after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the U.S. and France, a rare victory for diplomacy in a region traumatised by two devastating wars for over a year.

Lebanon's army, which is tasked with helping make sure the ceasefire holds, said in a statement it was preparing to deploy to the south of the country. The military also asked that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military, which has waged war against Hezbollah on several occasions and pushed around six km (4 miles) into Lebanese territory, withdraws.

The agreement, which promises to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year, is a major achievement for the U.S. in the waning days of President Joe Biden's administration.

By Khagan Isayev