MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. Talks with Israel are not only possible but absolutely necessary and the global community should push Israel in this direction, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal told TASS.

"I think that if the international community decides to, if Europeans and Americans do something, press Israel, then, of course, talks are possible. Not only possible but necessary," he said.

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.

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 at 8:00 a.m. local time (6:00 a.m. GMT) on November 24 and the first group of hostages was released on the same day. Israel and Hamas, via mediators, reached an agreement on the extension of the ceasefire in Gaza from 7:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. GMT) on November 28 for two more days.