The agreement would allow the movement of foreign passport holders and some critically injured people through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the enclave, though there is no timeline for how long the Rafah crossing will remain open for evacuation, the source added.

The agreement is not linked to other issues under negotiation such as the hostages held by Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, or pauses designed to ease a humanitarian crisis in the enclave which is suffering from food, water, fuel, and medical shortages, said the source.

Israel sent its forces into Gaza following weeks of air bombardments in retaliation for a major attack by Hamas on Oct 7.

Hamas has told mediators it will soon release some of the 200 or so foreign captives it had taken during the attack on Israel, Abu Ubaida, the spokesman of the group’s armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a video on the Telegram app yesterday. He gave no further details on the number of captives or their nationalities.