Egypt warned Hamas at the weekend to accept a long-term truce offered by the Israeli government before Binyamin Netanyahu is elected prime minister, reported London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Alawsat.
The current offer, conveyed to Hamas via Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Sulleiman, would see Israel fully open all Gaza border crossings in return for a 10-year ceasefire and the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
To sweeten the deal, Israel also offered to set free 1,050 jailed Palestinian terrorists.
Hamas has rejected the offer because it wants the freedom to start attacking Israel again much sooner than that, and because it demands much more in return for Shalit's freedom.
But Egyptian officials cautioned that if Netanyahu wins Israel's February 10 general election, as all polls indicate, then Hamas will receive far less, if anything, from Israel.
Netanyahu is also far more likely to renew military action against Hamas in the absence of a bilateral ceasefire agreement.