Media reported that Hamas has agreed to release some hostages

The radical Palestinian movement Hamas agreed to release sick and elderly hostages. This was reported by Al-Arabiya on December 18.

"Hamas has agreed to release sick, elderly people and captive female soldiers," Al-Arabiya wrote in its social networking account X (former Twitter).

According to the publication, this is a "significant breakthrough" in one of the issues concerning the situation in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas is not concerned: Israel will continue war in Gaza despite truce with Hezbollah

Can the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon at least be a starting point for a settlement in the Middle East

The day before, Al Hadath TV channel reported that Hamas and the Israeli authorities could reach an agreement on the release of hostages by the end of December. At the same time it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go to Cairo to negotiate a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The publication Al Jazeera noted that since the beginning of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the death toll has reached 45,028 Palestinians, with 106,962 wounded.

Before that, on December 16, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) told Izvestia that about 8,000 pregnant women in Gaza are in conditions of hunger. The Fund added that at least 345 thousand people, including 38 thousand teenage girls, live in such conditions in Gaza.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected the territory of Israel to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.