Israel-Hamas conflict: Biden says he thinks an agreement to free the hostages in Gaza is close.

According to Reuters, US President Joe Biden stated on Monday that he thinks an agreement to exchange a truce for the release of some of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza is near. During a Thanksgiving ceremony at the White House, the US President responded, "I believe so," when asked if a deal was imminent.

Last week, Reuters revealed that Qatari mediators were trying to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas to swap 50 hostages for a three-day cease-fire. The agreement, according to the mediators, would facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza's civilian population.

About 240 people—including women and children—were captured on October 7 as Hamas launched a cross-border attack on Israel. There are perhaps 33 kids among the hostages. Israeli data indicates that this surprise attack by Hamas, the bloodiest in Israel's 75-year history, claimed the lives of roughly 1,200 Israelis, the majority of whom were civilians. Israel, which views Hamas as an Islamist militant organisation, invaded Palestinian territory in response to this unexpected attack in order to destroy the organisation.

Since then, the Israeli army's relentless bombardment of Palestinians has resulted in the deaths of at least 13,000 people, including 5,500 children, according to the Hamas-run government in Gaza.

In the meantime, the Hamas-run health ministry said that Israel had carried out a fatal attack on the Indonesian hospital in Gaza, forcing 28 preterm babies to be evacuated from the war-torn region to Egypt.

The WHO revised by one the number provided by Egyptian media, saying that 28 preterm newborns rescued from Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, had been transferred to safety in Egypt through the Rafah crossing.

Although the Israeli army claimed to have "helped facilitate" the transfer, the WHO stated that "all babies are fighting serious infections and continue needing health care."

Israel claims that Hamas has employed extensive military tunnel networks beneath Al-Shifa. Additionally, it has displayed weapons that have been retrieved, and on Sunday, Israel declared that it had found a tunnel but had not yet found any indications of a significant military headquarters underground.