HAMAS is reportedly ready for a ceasefire agreement with Israel following the truce forged in Lebanon with Hezbollah.
A senior official from the Palestine-based terror group told AFP that mediators are ready to broker a “serious” deal and prisoner exchange.
“We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” they said.
Israeli and American officials have long said they hoped a Lebanon truce would push Hamas to follow.
But throughout more than a year of brutal fighting in Gaza – proposed deals have repeatedly been rejected either by Hamas or Israel.
Israel has insisted on leaving troops in Gaza and along the Strip border with Egypt.
Hamas has insisted on a complete withdrawal of Israel Defence Force (IDF) troops.
The end to fighting in Lebanon kicked in at 2am GMT on Wednesday morning – with hordes of civilians flooding south to return to their homes.
Israel urged people not the return yet to areas like Beirut – where much of the fighting has been concentrated – while the IDF clear out.
The IDF launched an invasion into Lebanon in September to obliterate Hezbollah – Iran’s largest and most powerful terror proxy.
Airstrikes by Israel on the country have killed at least 3,823 people and injured 15,000 since October 2023 – the Lebanese health ministry has confirmed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel had crippled Hezbollah as he announced the deal on Tuesday night.
He claimed to have “severed the head of the snake” by killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and pushing his Lebanese enemy “decades back.”
He said: “Hezbollah chose to attack us from there on the eighth of October. A year has passed – this is no longer the same Hezbollah.
“We eliminated all the senior members of the organisation, we destroyed most of its missiles and rockets, we eliminated thousands of terrorists and we destroyed the underground and terrorist infrastructures near our border – infrastructures that were built over years.
“We attacked strategic targets throughout Lebanon… Lebanon is not the same. All of this would have sounded like science fiction, but it is not.”
He also vowed to renew the strikes on Lebanon if Hezbollah tries to attack again.
“If Hezbollah tries to attack us, if it arms itself and rebuilds infrastructure near the border, we will attack,” he said.
The deal involves some 5,000 members of the Lebanese army being deployed to the south – with Hezbollah agreeing to remove its presence anywhere below the Litani river just 20 miles from the border.
Israel believes this will help protect its citizens living in the north of the country from short-range rocket strikes and another possible October 7-style surprise terror attack across the border.
The deal did not involve Hamas – which carried out the October 7 terror attack on Israel last year.
Netanyahu vowed during his speech to continue the war against Hamas and return the hostages who remain in Gaza.
Some 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed in the horror rampage and 250 more kidnapped into Gaza.
