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Middle East conflict

Hamas confirms agreement with Israel on four-day ceasefire

Hamas confirmed that as part of the agreement it will release "50 prisoners, women and children under 19 years in exchange for the release of 150 women and children under 19 years" from Israeli prisons

© Ivan Batyrev/TASS

MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. Palestine’s Hamas movement confirmed its agreement with Israel on a four-day ceasefire and release of hostages in exchange for release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

"After days of tough negotiations we announce <…> that we reached an agreement on a four-day humanitarian ceasefire thanks to continuous and skillful efforts of Qatar and Egypt," the Palestinian movement said on Telegram.

Hamas confirmed that as part of the agreement it will release "50 prisoners, women and children under 19 years in exchange for the release of 150 women and children under 19 years" from Israeli prisons.

As part of the agreement, both sides pledged to cease fire and guarantee that "all military actions in all regions of the Gaza Strip are stopped," the statement says. Also, "hundreds of trucks with humanitarian, emergency and medical aid, as well as with fuel" will be allowed to reach "all regions of the Gaza Strip, without exception, in the north and the south."

Besides, as part of the humanitarian pause "all air traffic will be completely stopped in the south of Gaza" and partially in the north of the region, where it will be halted every day between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. local time.

"During the ceasefire period, the occupying forces [Israeli troops] pledge not to attack or arrest anyone in all sectors of the Gaza Strip and to ensure free movement of people from the north to the south via the Salah ad-Din highway," the statement says.

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.

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