TEL AVIV, November 26. /TASS/. The Israeli military has received from the Red Cross 13 released hostages, who are already in Israel’s territory, four more are on their way to Egypt, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

"13 released hostages are being accompanied by IDF forces and are now in Israeli territory," it said.

"IDF special forces and ISA forces are currently accompanying 12 released hostages in Israeli territory to the Hatzerim Base," it said, adding one of these 13 people has been sent to hospital by a helicopter.

In parallel, four additional released hostages are on their way to the Rafah Crossing," the IDF said.

Hamas announced on November 22 that an agreement on a four-day humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip had been reached through the mediation of Qatar and Egypt. The agreement stipulates 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.

A four-day ceasefire came into force in the Gaza Strip from 8:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. GMT) 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. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.