Jerusalem: Amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza which has left more than 44000 people left and millions displaced, the Palestinian terror group Hamas has now said that it is ready to stop the fighting if a truce is reached and certain conditions are met.

According to news agency AFP, a high-ranking Hamas official said that a delegation from the group’s Doha-based leadership deliberated upon “ideas and proposals” related to a Gaza truce with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Thursday.

“Hamas has expressed readiness to stop the fighting, but Israel must commit to a ceasefire, withdraw from the Gaza Strip, allow the return of displaced people, agree to a serious prisoner exchange deal and allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the official was quoted as saying. He added that the discussions in Cairo were part of Egypt’s ongoing efforts to resume ceasefire negotiations.

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In response, Israel also confirmed that its spy chief will attend Gaza ceasefire talks. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Egypt’s readiness to reach a deal “for the release of the hostages” still held by militants in Gaza.

After the Cairo meeting, PM Netanyahu instructed the head of spy agency Mossad to leave for key mediator Qatar on Sunday to “advance a series of initiatives that are on the agenda,” the prime minister’s office said. On Thursday, the United States and Qatar also stated that Gaza ceasefire talks would resume in the Qatari capital.

‘Time Is Running Out’

It may be noted that previous efforts to stop the year-long war have failed, though the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week raised hopes that the ceasefire talk would resume soon.

Interestingly, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks with Qatar’s leaders in Doha on Thursday – his 11th trip to the region since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war.

During the trip, which comes less than two weeks before the US elections, Blinken said that mediators were seeking a plan “so that Israel can withdraw so that Hamas cannot reconstitute, and so that the Palestinian people can rebuild their lives and rebuild their futures”.

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The US and Israeli teams would fly to Doha, with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani stating that Qatari mediators had “re-engaged” with Hamas since Sinwar’s death.

According to the Israeli and US officials, the slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had been a big stumbling block to a deal for securing the release of 97 hostages still held in Gaza, 34 of whom are believed to be dead now, as per the Israeli military.

Amid all this, an Israeli group representing families of hostages appealed to PM Netanyahu and Hamas to secure an agreement to free the remaining captives. ”Time is running out,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.

Hundreds Dead In North Gaza

On the battlefield, the Israeli military has kept up pressure on Hamas, launching an operation earlier this month in the north of Gaza where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped.

“More than 770 people have been killed” in the territory’s north in the 19 days since the operation started, Gaza Civil Defence Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said, adding that the toll could rise as people were buried under the rubble.

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The Israeli military reiterated that the goal of its assault is to destroy the operational capabilities it says Hamas is trying to rebuild in the north. The Gaza war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed 42,847 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, data which the United Nations considers reliable.

Clashes With Hezbollah

After nearly a year of war in Gaza, Israel expanded its focus to Lebanon a month ago, vowing to secure its northern border against near-daily attacks by Hamas ally Hezbollah.

It launched a massive bombing campaign targeting mainly Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon and sent in ground troops on September 30.

Since September 23, the war in Lebanon has killed at least 1,580 people, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.

The ministry said three children were among 12 people killed in Israeli strikes on two villages in eastern Lebanon on Thursday. Later Lebanese state media said Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah bastion, about half an hour after Israel issued evacuation warnings.

At least five Israeli soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon – a scene of daily fighting with Hezbollah militants since the ground offensive began. Hezbollah said it attacked Israeli troops and positions in Israel’s north and also soldiers inside Lebanese territory.

The war has sparked a huge displacement crisis in Lebanon, already suffering from a years-long political and economic crisis.