JERUSALEM – A senior Hamas official said Friday that the group is “ready for a ceasefire” in Gaza and urged US President-elect Donald Trump to pressure Israel to end the war. “Hamas is ready to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if a ceasefire proposal is presented and on the condition that it is respected” by Israel, Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim told AFP.

“We call on the US administration and Trump to pressure the Israeli government to end the aggression. “Hamas informed the mediators that it is in favour of any proposal submitted to it that would lead to a definitive ceasefire and military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, allowing the return of displaced people, a serious deal for a prisoner exchange, the entry of humanitarian aid and reconstruction,” Naim added.

The demands are the same ones Hamas has made in successive rounds of ceasefire negotiations since the start of the war. On the campaign trail, Trump promised peace in the Middle East and has vowed to give freer rein to Israel. Naim’s comments come after Qatar said Saturday that it had suspended its role as a key mediator for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal until Hamas and Israel show “seriousness” in talks. The Gulf emirate, which has hosted Hamas’s political leadership since 2012 with US blessing, has been involved in months of protracted diplomacy aimed at ending the war triggered by the Palestinian group’s attack on Israel on October 7 last year. (Jamaicaobserver)

Photo: A girl watches as mourners pray over the body of a victim of an Israeli strike, during a funeral at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 15, 2024. (AFP)