WASHINGTON, November 22. /TASS/. A humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip will continue for no less than four or five days, with the possibility of extension, in accordance with agreements reached between Israel and HAMAS with the mediation of the United States and Qatar, a high-ranking US administration official told a media briefing.

"The hostage deal, as it is structured, includes a <…> humanitarian pause over a number of days: four to five days at least. And there is the potential with additional releases for that to be extended, but that will also be dependent upon Hamas releasing additional hostages. They should release all of them, period," the official said.

According to him, the terms "humanitarian pause" and "ceasefire" can be used interchangeably in the context of these agreements.

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.