The Saudi channel ASharq reported Monday morning that it had received from a senior Hamas source the full list of hostages included in the first humanitarian phase of the agreement currently being negotiated between Israel and the terrorist organization.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said the list requested by Israel and approved by Hamas “is in line with the criteria agreed during the last round of negotiations and includes women, the sick and children.” The source stressed that Hamas gave its agreement, without specifying whether it concerns living or dead people.
The BBC also claimed to be in possession of the list of 34 hostages that Hamas is ready to release during this phase. The British public broadcaster also indicates that the list does not specify who among the hostages is alive or dead, and includes among others 10 women, 11 men aged 50 to 85 and also two “young children” that Hamas had previously announced dead without proof. According to the list, these would be the children Ariel and Kfir Bibas, accompanied by their parents Shiri and Yarden, who we do not know if they will be returned alive.
Importantly, Israel confirms the authenticity of the document and indicates that a similar list had already been presented last July in what was called the “clarification document”, when negotiations broke down. In the updated list, the names of several hostages since released from captivity were removed, as well as the names of hostages murdered in captivity whose bodies were returned to Israel. As we reported last week, negotiations in Qatar hit difficulties when Hamas reneged on its previous commitment to release sick and injured hostages who were on the humanitarian list, while Israel insisted that they are released from the first phase of the agreement. We clarify again that this is a potential list requested by Israel, and that at this stage there is no information on the status of the hostages on the list.
