NEW DELHI, November 28. /TASS/. Around 170 people are still being held hostage by Hamas, Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said.

"Around 170 hostages are still being held. We have two goals: the first one is to deprive Hamas of any chance to act and the other one is to release the hostages. We are working on both," the ANI agency quoted him as saying.

He noted however that it is difficult to say exactly how many hostages Hamas is holding.

According to the Israeli diplomat, Hamas is seeking to take full advantage of the ceasefire period. In his words, they are using this time to re-group and prepare for the ground operation Israel is planning.

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.

The ceasefire came into force in the Gaza Strip from 7:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. GMT) on November 24.

On November 27, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari said that Israel and Hamas, via mediators, reached a principle agreement on the extension of the ceasefire in Gaza for two more days.