TASS, October 14. TASS/. Egypt and the US are close to concluding an agreement that will allow civilians from the Palestinian Gaza Strip to evacuate to Egyptian territory, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior Egyptian official.

Earlier, Egypt rejected any proposals to create humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from the Gaza Strip and rejected the Israeli army's demands to evacuate the population from the northern regions of the enclave, calling this measure a violation of international law and a threat to the lives of more than a million Palestinian citizens.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian Hamas movement staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip as it has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria.

According to the latest official data, more than 1,900 Palestinians have been killed since the renewed outbreak of violence, while over 7,700 others have suffered wounds. In Israel, over 1,500 people have lost their lives and roughly 4,000 have been wounded in clashes, including on the West Bank of the Jordan River.