Hamas announced its intention to release 34 Israeli hostages, including women, children and the elderly, as part of the first phase of a deal under discussion with Israel.
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Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel resumed this weekend.Keystone
A Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the Palestinian Islamist movement was ready to free 34 Israeli hostages, held captive in the Gaza Strip, during the “first phase” of an agreement with Israel.
“Hamas agreed to release 34 Israeli prisoners from a list provided by Israel in the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal”
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Specifying that the list included “all Israeli women, sick people, children and elderly people” among the hostages.
“Hamas and resistance groups need about a week of calm to communicate with the captors and identify the (hostages) dead or alive.”
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that:
“Contrary to what has been reported, Hamas has still not provided a list of hostages”
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel resumed this weekend in Qatar with a view to an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza since the attack of the Palestinian movement on Israeli soil on the 7th. October 2023.
Despite intense diplomatic efforts led under the aegis of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, no truce has been concluded since the one-week truce at the end of November 2023.
This truce allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
During the attack on October 7, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians according to a count based on official figures, 251 people were kidnapped. A total of 96 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the army. (dal/ats)
The Hamas attack on Israel, in pictures
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The Hamas attack on Israel, in pictures
Residents of the town of Ashkelon, in southern Israel, evacuated by police.
source: ap/tsafrir abayov
– Benyamin Netanyahu at Darius Rochebin
Video: watson
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