Qatar announces humanitarian deal between Israel, Hamas

Qatar announced Tuesday that it has successfully mediated an agreement between Israel and Hamas that will enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to civilians in Gaza in exchange for the delivery of medicines to Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian group.

The agreement is a joint effort between Qatar and France, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majid bin Mohammed Al Ansari told Qatar News Agency (QNA).

Al Ansari said the humanitarian aid is scheduled to be dispatched Wednesday to the Egyptian city of El Arish utilizing two Qatari Armed Forces planes before reaching the Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 which Tel Aviv says killed 1,200 people.

At least 24,285 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 61,154 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

According to the UN, 85% of the population of Gaza is already internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure is damaged or destroyed.