NEW YORK, November 21. /TASS/. Israeli and Hamas negotiators have reached a preliminary agreement on the release of hostages, which is to be approved by the Israeli government, the NBC television channel reported on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 citing high-ranking US officials.

According to the officials, the preliminary deal provides for the exchange of 50 women and children held hostage by Hamas for about 150 Palestinians kept in Israeli prisons. The exact number of people subject to the swap is still being agreed upon. The sides may also declare a four- or five-day ceasefire and organize deliveries of fuel to the Gaza Strip.

Israel is free to choose those who will be released from prisons, the source noted.

The ABC television channel said earlier that Israel was expected to make a decision concerning the release of hostages by Wednesday, November 22. According to the television channel, this decision is first to be made by the members of the military and security cabinets to be later put to vote by the government. The final decision is expected on Wednesday.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.