Doha, Feb 21 (IANS): The Qatari government has said that Hamas has confirmed the receipt of a shipment of medicines and the commencement of their delivery to beneficiaries among the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, the Gaza-ruling Palestinian faction, has informed the Qatari side that it received the medicines and started to deliver them to the hostages in Gaza under an agreement mediated by Qatar, in cooperation with France between Hamas and Israel last month, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday in a statement.

The agreement includes "the entry of medicines and a shipment of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially in the most affected and damaged areas, in exchange for delivering the medicines needed by hostages in the sector," the Ministry's official spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari was quoted by the statement as saying as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

As part of its commitment to ending the conflict in Gaza, Qatar has affirmed its ongoing mediation efforts, in collaboration with regional and international partners, according to Al-Ansari.