Hamas 'ready and serious' for ceasefire as Trump says Israel has agreed deal
Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed to terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, during which the US and other parties would work towards an end to the war.
On Wednesday Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said the militant group was "ready and serious regarding reaching an agreement."
However, he reasserted that any deal with Israel must bring an end to the war in Gaza. He said Hamas was "ready to accept any initiative that clearly leads to the complete end to the war."
Trump had earlier pushed Hamas to accept the deal in a social media post.
'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,' Trump said.
The news comes as Trump prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks at the White House on Monday.
The US president has shown increased interest in a ceasefire and hostage agreement in the region after the US brokered a peace agreement between Israel and Iran.
Asked earlier if it's time to put pressure on Netanyahu to get a ceasefire deal done, Trump said the Israeli prime minister was ready to come to an agreement.
'He wants to,' Trump said, adding: 'I think we'll have a deal next week.'
A Hamas delegation is expected to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the proposal, according to an Egyptian official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because he wasn't authorized to discuss the talks with the media.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire agreement. About 50 hostages remain captive in Gaza, with less than half believed to be alive.
Hamas says it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the war in Gaza. Israel rejects that offer, saying it will agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something that the group refuses.
The announcement by Trump came as over 150 international charities and humanitarian groups called Tuesday for disbanding a controversial Israeli- and US-backed system to distribute aid in Gaza because of chaos and deadly violence against Palestinians seeking food at its sites.
The joint statement by groups including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International followed the killings of at least 10 Palestinians who were seeking desperately needed food, witnesses and health officials said. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 37 in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital.
'Tents, tents they are hitting with two missiles?' asked Um Seif Abu Leda, whose son was killed in the strikes. Mourners threw flowers on the body bags.
Before Trump's announcement, Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, had warned that his country would respond forcefully to the firing of a missile the military said originated from Yemen. Sirens sounded across parts of Israel, alerting residents to the attack and the launch of two projectiles from Gaza. All were intercepted by Israeli defence systems.
The missile launch marked the first attack by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels since the end of the 12-day war initiated by Israel with Iran. Katz said Yemen could face the same fate as Tehran.
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