Cairo/Tel Aviv - Hamas is willing to renew a ceasefire with Israel without adding any new conditions, a senior official of the Islamist organization said in an interview published Tuesday.

"The Palestinians want to give a chance to the Egyptian mediators. Hamas is ready for a truce, if Israel sticks to the terms of the June agreement," Mahmoud al-Zahar told the Egyptian al-Ahram daily.

Officials in the office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya confirmed the remarks.

The six-month truce between Israel and the Palestinian Gazan militant organizations, which began on June 19, ended Friday morning, and was not renewed.

Since the end of the ceasefire, militant groups, mainly the Islamic Jihad, have fired close to 80 rockets and mortars at southern Israel, which has responded with airstrikes against the rocket launching squads.

On Monday however Hamas announced it had agreed to an Egyptian request to cease the firing for 24 hours, to allow an aid convoy to enter the Gaza Strip.

Despite the announcement, three rockets and one mortar lkanded in Israel on Monday. (dpa)