A Hamas official said on Friday that Egypt was mediating a potential ceasefire between the Zionist entity and the resistance movement.

A Hamas official said on Friday that Egypt was mediating a potential ceasefire between the Zionist entity and the resistance movement.

"There are continuing Egyptian efforts to return calm to the Gaza Strip, but no agreement has been reached yet," Hamas official, Bassem Naim told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

Hamas "told the Egyptian side they do not want an escalation," the official added, but gave no further details.

Naim earlier told AFP: "Hamas is not interested in an escalation or war in Gaza, but at the same time it is not possible for it to remain silent on the continued aggression against Gaza and the West Bank."

The occupation military deployed troop reinforcements towards the Gaza border on Thursday, the army said, stressing however that it did not want an "escalation" either.