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Middle East conflict

Qatar optimistic about extending Gaza truce — MFA

Discussions are also being held regarding the release of civilian Israeli men and serving Israeli soldiers, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari added

NEW YORK, November 29. /TASS/. Qatar is optimistic about extending the humanitarian truce in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said told CNN.

"We are hopeful that within in a couple of hours we will have the release of the final batch [of hostages] but also we will be able to announce an extension," he said. "We are very optimistic that we will have good news to share today."

Discussions are also being held regarding the release of civilian Israeli men and serving Israeli soldiers, al-Ansari said. But priority is given to the release of women and children as they are in most danger, the spokesman said.

Hamas said on November 22 it had reached an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Qatar and Egypt, to introduce a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for four days. The group said that the agreement involves the release of 50 women and children under the age of 19 that are held in the enclave in exchange for the release of 150 women and children under the age of 19 from Israeli prisons. The Gaza truce kicked off at 5:00 a.m. GMT on November 24, and the first group of hostages walked free the same day.

On November 27, a spokesman for the chief of Hamas political bureau told TASS that the new deal with Israel will be based on the same terms as before, meaning three Palestinian prisoners will be freed every day until November 30 in exchange for each released Israeli hostage. The original agreement stipulated the possibility of extending the humanitarian pause by one day for the release of every additional group of 10 hostages.

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