Is Hamas getting realistic about a truce?

Times of Israel:
A statement Sunday by Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accepting a 24-hour humanitarian truce marks the first indication that Hamas is starting to break. There’s no surrender and white-flag-waving, but the message is a sign of significant distress.

Contrary to what Israel has been trying to argue for 20 days, Hamas has not shown any signs of real weakness until now. The organization has continued firing rockets at Israel and has relentlessly tried to carry out attacks on Israeli soil.

But something has changed over the last few days. The group’s political leaders sound different, less decisive, less fiery. On Wednesday, politburo chief Khaled Mashaal said (from Qatar) that he would rather die than have the blockade continue, but the very next day, he changed his tune when it came to American assurances. And on Sunday, all this reached a tipping point.

Early Sunday morning, Abu Zuhri said Hamas would not agree to a humanitarian truce without the complete withdrawal of the IDF (“enemy forces”) from the Gaza Strip, the cessation of all military activity and the return of civilians to their homes.

And yet a few hours later, the same Abu Zuhri declared that “pursuant to a request by the UN, and the needs of the Palestinian people, and given the [Eid al-Fitr] holiday, Hamas has decided to agree to a humanitarian truce of 24 hours.”

What changed the organization’s mind over those few hours? Likely the pressure of Gazan public opinion.

The Gazan public is exhausted and being forced to deal with a situation that is akin to an earthquake: thousands of homes completely destroyed, thousands more damaged, and more than 1,050 people dead (including hundreds of gunmen) and 6,000 injured, according to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Health Ministry — and all this on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, a major holiday on the Muslim calendar. 
...
The people calling the shots are not doing the suffering and are not offering themselves as human shields.  Those who are see their situation as becoming more hopeless.  They are more attached to reality than the billionaires in Qatar.

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