A Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the Palestinian Islamist movement was “ready to release 34 Israeli prisoners from a list provided by Israel in the first phase of a prisoner exchange agreement.” He said the list included “all Israeli women, sick people, children and elderly people.”
“Hamas and the resistance groups need about a week of calm to communicate with the kidnappers and identify the (hostages) dead or alive,” added this Hamas official to AFP. According to Reuters, Israel and the Islamist movement are still negotiating the number and identity of Palestinian prisoners who would be released in exchange for the hostages.
While the rallies for the release of the hostages continue in Israel, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared 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. This new round of discussions in Doha comes just over two weeks before the inauguration, on January 20, of American President-elect Donald Trump, who has already put pressure on Hamas. Aside from the hostage issue, Israel remained discreet on other topics discussed.
Only one truce since October 7, 2023
Among the main sticking points so far have been the permanent nature or not of a ceasefire and the governance of Gaza after the war, Israel categorically opposing Hamas being able to rule the territory again. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Hamas would agree to release the hostages on condition of “a permanent ceasefire”. The release of the hostages would also be linked to the conclusion of an agreement on the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Despite intense diplomatic efforts led under the aegis of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, no truce has been concluded since that of a week at the end of November 2023, which saw the release of ‘a hundred hostages.
New indirect negotiations in December in Doha had revived hopes of a ceasefire, associated with a release of hostages, but Hamas and Israel had once again accused each other of stopping them.
At least 23 dead on Sunday in Gaza under Israeli strikes
While waiting for a possible agreement, violence has escalated for several days in the Palestinian enclave besieged and devastated by nearly 15 months of war. Gaza emergency services reported at least 23 dead on Sunday in several Israeli strikes across the territory.
“The (Israeli) occupation is using the false pretext of the presence of fighters to carry out violent air strikes on homes housing dozens of displaced people,” denounced Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal. The Israeli army announced that it had “hit more than 100 terrorist targets” and “eliminated dozens of Hamas terrorists” in the space of two days, Friday and Saturday, in Gaza.
At least 45,805 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli military campaign of retaliation in Gaza, according to the latest report on Sunday from the Hamas Ministry of Health.
During the October 7 attack, 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.
