U.S. intelligence reported Hamas recruiting up to 15,000 people.

The Palestinian movement Hamas has recruited from 10 to 15 thousand people into its ranks since the beginning of the war with Israel. This was reported by Reuters on January 24, citing interlocutors in the U.S. Congress familiar with military intelligence data.

This may indicate that the organization may still be a threat to Israel. The U.S. has previously said that about the same number of Hamas fighters have been killed since the active phase of the conflict began.

"Every time Israel ends its military operations and retreats, Hamas fighters regroup and reappear because there is nothing else to fill the void," said Anthony Blinken, former President Joe Biden 's secretary of state.

The publication notes that many of those recruited are young and inexperienced people who are not trained for combat and are mostly engaged in "simple security tasks."

Cease-fire: How the agreement between Israel and Hamas will change the situation in the Middle East

In the first phase, 33 captives are to be released - will this be a step towards a settlement

On the morning of January 19, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip began to take effect. On the same day, the Palestinian Hamas movement handed over three Israeli hostages - Romy Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher - to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The next day, Israel released the first 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal.

On January 24, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya , said that he considers the conflict in Gaza a reflection of Western indifference to the protection of human rights. According to him, even if the Palestinian-Israeli conflict ends now, the risk of death and injury for the children of Gaza will persist for at least 14 more years. That is how long it will take to clear the territory of unexploded shells.

The Gaza ceasefire agreement was announced on January 15. The next day, the Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began preparations for the implementation of the agreement. In particular, the State Defense Ministry's Directorate of Checkpoints and the Design Department will be involved in the implementation of the deal in order to speed up logistics.

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