TEL AVIV, November 21. /TASS/. Israel and the Hamas movement are allegedly close to striking a deal on a four-day ceasefire, Israel’s Galei Tzahal Army Radio Station reported.

According to the media outlet, the deal will involve the release of 50 hostages, namely children, their mothers, and perhaps, elderly women. However, militants may request that the ceasefire be extended, claiming that not all underage hostages are kept in one place.

Israel’s state-run Kan radio station confirmed that the parties were close to reaching an agreement. The Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV channel reported, citing a Hamas spokesman, that Qatar would disclose the details of the hostage-release deal in the coming hours.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7 after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking people, including women, children and the elderly, hostage. 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. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and launched ground operations in the enclave, also carrying out air strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.