US to start immediately on fresh push for Gaza ceasefire

Hamas reacted positively to the Lebanon ceasefire, and said it was ready to consider a truce in Gaza.

“We appreciate the steadfastness of the brotherly Lebanese people, and their constant solidarity with the Palestinian people,” Hamas leader Basem Naim told the BBC.

“We express our commitment to cooperate with any efforts to stop the fire in Gaza, and we are concerned with stopping the aggression against our people.”

The organisation has faced significant challenges, including an inability to convene its leadership since the killing of Yahya Sinwar by Israel.

Its leaders are now scattered across Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, and disconnected from those managing the hostages held in Gaza.

These hostages appear to be Hamas’s remaining leverage, as the group’s capacity to fight Israel has been very limited, and its popularity has significantly declined in Gaza.

Despite insisting on three conditions – an Israeli withdrawal, a permanent ceasefire and the reconstruction of Gaza – Hamas has indicated to mediators on many occasions its willingness to make substantial concessions.

For now, Hamas remains unwilling to agree to terms it perceives as surrender, but it has little room for manoeuvre in the negotiations, as the gap between the two sides has become deeper and the sound of the guns will remain louder.

Meanwhile, on Gaza’s streets, the ceasefire has raised some concerns.

“We were overjoyed by the cessation of the war in Lebanon, and we also hope for the same here in the Gaza Strip,” one man in Khan Younis told Gaza Today.

“However, at the same time, we have concerns that the occupation army might once again intensify its raids in Gaza and that its military forces might return from Lebanon to Gaza.”

“We don’t want anyone to experience what we’ve gone through here in Gaza,” another man said.

“We don’t want to see children killed, women trapped under rubble, or the recurring scenes of bloodshed in Lebanon that we have witnessed here.

“On the other hand, I believe the Israeli army will focus its raids on Gaza.”