MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. Another deal on the exchange of hostages, held by Hamas, and Palestinian prisoners in Israel is likely to be inked this month, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

"The second batch will follow the first batch. They would need four or five days to organize it will involve 50 Israeli [hostages] in return for 150 Palestinian [prisoners]," Reuters stated citing a Palestinian official, who spoke on conditions of anonymity.

According to Reuters, "100 of the around 240 people Hamas seized" would be returned, while Israel "would free a total of 300 Palestinian prisoners in the two exchanges," which is "a number corresponding to a list of women and teenaged male inmates it published on Wednesday as candidates."

On Wednesday morning, the Israeli Ministry of Justice issued a list of Palestinian prisoners who may be released as part of the agreement to return hostages held in Gaza. The list includes 300 Palestinian prisoners, double the number Israel agreed to free in exchange for the Gaza hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday that the country’s government had approved a plan, which included the return of at least 50 hostages from the Gaza Strip in four days, after which Israel would resume its military operation in the enclave.

On Wednesday night, the radical Palestinian movement Hamas is expected to present a list of hostages who may be part of the first group released on the morning of November 23, Israel’s state-run Kan radio station reported.

According to the broadcaster, under the deal, Hamas will release 50 hostages in ten groups throughout the four-day ceasefire. If the truce is extended, ten people are expected to be released every additional day, Kan added. Israel will simultaneously free three Palestinian prisoners for each of its hostages.

Hamas announced on November 22 that an agreement on a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip had been reached through the mediation of Qatar and Egypt. The movement confirmed that the agreement stipulated the release of 50 women and children under the age of 19 who are held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 150 women and children under the age of 19 from Israeli prisons.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7 after militants from the Palestinian group Hamas launched an 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 in Jerusalem.

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.