CAIRO, November 21. /TASS/. The radical Palestinian movement Hamas and Israeli authorities are getting close to reaching an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Hamas Politburo Head Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement on Telegram.

Hamas and Israel "are getting closer to an agreement amid the war in Gaza," he wrote. "Hamas provided its response to Qatar and other intermediaries," Haniyeh added without citing any details.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into 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 on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has begun delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.