CRUNCH TALKS
Hamas terror chief wants to MEET Trump as Don fears Gaza truce with Israel won’t last and IDF marches into West Bank
The terror boss credited Trump for the long-awaited deal in the Middle East
A HAMAS leader has said he wants to meet with new President Donald Trump amid fears that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza won't last.
It comes as Israeli forces launched a "large-scale and significant" military operation into the occupied West Bank as part of a new "Iron Wall" offensive.
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The senior terror chief revealed just hours after the pause in fighting kicked in that the militant group was ready to open a dialogue with the US.
In a rare departure from its stance on Israel's closest ally, Qatar-based Mousa Abu Marzouk told : "We’re prepared for a dialogue with America and achieving understandings on everything."
Meanwhile Trump, 78, said he is "not confident" that the ceasefire in war-torn Gaza will hold, over a year into Hamas' war with Israel.
Speaking to the press after his historic inauguration, Trump said: "That's not our war, it's their war. But I'm not confident."
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He added that Hamas had been "weakened" by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and that Gaza had been left looking like a "massive demolition site".
Marzouk credited Trump for the long-awaited deal in the Middle East - which saw three Israeli hostages exchanged for some 90 Palestinian prisoners.
He described the Maga leader as a "serious president".
The terror boss said: "If not for President Trump, his insistence on ending the war, and his dispatching of a decisive representative, the deal wouldn’t have happened.
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"Truthfully, Trump gets the credit for ending the war."
He welcomed said representative, Trump's new Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, to come to Gaza.
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"He can come and see the people and try to understand their feelings and wishes so that the American position can be based on the interests of all the parties, and not only one party", Marzouk said.
Israeli forces invaded the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained as a "large-scale and significant military operation".
It is expected to last at least several days with the involvement of Israeli soldiers, police and intelligence services.
At least seven Palestinian people have been killed so far and 35 injured, local health authorities report.
The offensive began mere hours after Trump declared on Monday that he would lift sanctions placed on violent settlers in the West Bank who attack Palestinian villages.
Netanyahu said: "We are acting systematically and resolutely against the Iranian axis wherever it extends its arms – in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea and Samaria."
"This is another step in achieving the goal we set, strengthening security [in the West Bank]."
Israel refers to the occupied West Bank as Judea and Samaria.
Jenin has been described as a stronghold for armed Palestinian militant groups before - with Netanyahu saying the operation aims to "eradicate terrorism" in the area.
The IDF have conducted raids there before with the Palestinian health ministry saying over 800 people have been killed there since October 7.
FINALLY FREED
A historic ceasefire deal was achieved between Israel and Hamas last week.
All the hostages are now expected to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
The detailed plan has been divided into three phases and is expected to last for weeks.
On Sunday, Brit hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher were returned to their families by Hamas captors.
They were the first three Israeli hostages released in phase one of the ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
The trio’s release was nearly derailed as Hamas delayed providing their names, prompting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to accuse the group of breaching the ceasefire terms.
Touching moments followed their arrival in Israel, where their mums embraced them at an Israeli Defence Forces reception centre.
Four more hostages will be returned on the seventh day then every week for a period of four weeks.
The next release of hostages and prisoners is due Saturday.
Finally, 14 hostages will be returned in the sixth week from the group of 33 made up of 12 women and children, 10 men over the age of 50 and 11 younger men.
Negotiations will start again to secure the release of 65 hostages still in Gaza on the 16th day of the ceasefire.
Hamas stormed the border from Gaza on October 7, slaughtering some 1,200 people including Israelis and foreign nationals.
They kidnapped around 250 more, including the three young women who were finally released home to their families on Sunday.
In the 15 months of war since, over 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, local health officials report.
The Jenin Refugee Camp is home to some 14,000 people.
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It was reportedly set up in 1953 to house Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes by Israeli forces.
It has been described as "the martyr's capital" by Palestinians and "the hornets' nest" by Israelis.
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