MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/. Qatar, the United States and Egypt all contributed to facilitating a hostage exchange with the radical Palestinian movement Hamas, Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi told TASS.

"It was both Qatar, Egypt and the US, of course. There were several configurations here, because the US stood between us and Qatar; the checkpoint is on Egyptian territory and they have direct contact with Hamas. So there are several players in this process," he said, when asked who played the key role of mediator in the hostage swap talks.

On November 22, Hamas reported reaching an agreement with Israel, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, on a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip that would last four days. The movement confirmed that the agreements envisage the release of 50 women, children and teenagers held in the enclave in exchange for the release of 150 women, children and teenagers from Israeli prisons.

Earlier, the head of Israel's National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, said that the process of releasing part of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip will not begin before November 24. Ben Zvi told TASS that the truce between Israel and Hamas may begin on November 24.

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.