NEW YORK, November 30. /TASS/. Israel and Hamas are ready to extend the agreement on a humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip, NBC News reported, citing a high-ranking Arab diplomat.

According to the diplomat, the ceasefire agreement extension has not yet been officially announced however it is expected that the humanitarian pause will be prolonged for at least two more days.

CNN reported earlier that representatives from Egypt, Israel, Qatar, and the United States are working on the extension of a pause in Israel’s combat operation in the Gaza Strip and hope that the ceasefire will be extended into Thursday if Hamas releases at least ten Israelis on Wednesday.

CIA Director William Burns, Israel’s Mossad Director David Barnea and Qatari representatives with close ties to the Hamas political leadership are in Qatar now.

On November 22, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip. Under the deal, 50 women and children under the age of 19 held hostage in the enclave are to be released in return for the release of 150 women and children under the age of 19 from Israeli prisons. The deal came into effect on November 24 at 7:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. GMT), and later in the day the first group of hostages was released.

On November 27, Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesman Majed bin Muhammad al-Ansari said that Israel and Hamas, through mediators, had struck a deal to extend the humanitarian truce in Gaza for two more days.