Senior Hamas officials said Tuesday that an agreement could be reached soon in which the terrorist group would release hostages and Israel would free Palestinian prisoners.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials announced that meetings of key decision-making bodies would be held late Tuesday to discuss “the issue of the release of hostages.”
Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating for weeks over a hostage release that would be paired with a temporary cease-fire in Gaza and the entry of more humanitarian aid. Similar predictions of a hostage agreement in recent weeks have proven premature.
Israel’s army is widening its operations across northern Gaza, where they battled radical Islamic terrorists on Tuesday in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp, the territory’s largest.
The military said forces are “preparing the battlefield” in the Jabaliya area, just north of Gaza City, and have killed dozens of militants in recent days. Troops discovered three tunnel shafts where fighters were hiding and destroyed rocket launchers, it said.
It wasn’t possible to independently confirm details of the fighting. A strike on a nearby hospital killed 12 people on Monday as Israeli troops and tanks battled militants outside its gates.
Israel says Hamas uses civilians and hospitals as shields, the practice of which has been well documented over the years.
Critics say Israel’s siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territory’s civilians after Hamas launched their Oct. 7 massacre into southern Israel.
Some 1,200 people were slaughtered in Israel during the Oct. 7 attack, and around 240 were taken captive by militants.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.