Israel and Hamas may soon sign a hostage deal

Israel hopes to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip soon, intensive negotiations on a deal with the Palestinian movement Hamas are now underway. The office of the country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Izvestia.

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"Negotiations on the release of hostages are in an intensive phase. Israel hopes that in the near future all our hostages will be able to return home," Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister, told Izvestia.

A Hamas source told Izvestia that an agreement could be reached soon if Israel does not make new demands.

Al Arabiya TV reported on December 18 that the Palestinian movement had dropped its demand for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in the first stage of the deal.

Read more in Izvestia's exclusive piece:

Trace to the end of the tunnel: hostage negotiations in Gaza close to completion