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Israel says Hamas has not given 'status of hostages' it says ready to free

Asia

By AFP | Jan 06, 2025

Protesters hold placards and wave flags during a demonstration calling for the release of hostages held captive in Gaza by Palestinian militants since the October 7 attacks, outside the Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on January 4, 2025. [AFP]

Israel said Monday that Hamas had not yet provided the status of the 34 hostages the group declared it was ready to release in the first phase of a potential exchange deal.

"As yet, Israel has not received any confirmation or comment by Hamas regarding the status of the hostages appearing on the list," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement after a Hamas official gave a list of captives the group was willing to free.

"The list of hostages... was not provided to Israel by Hamas but was originally given by Israel to the mediators in July 2024."

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Mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have tried for months to strike a deal to end the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In recent days negotiators from both sides have been holding indirect talks in Doha.

Late on Sunday, a senior Hamas official told AFP the group had agreed to release 34 hostages.

"Hamas has agreed to release 34 Israeli prisoners from a list presented by Israel as part of the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal," the official said.

The Hamas official, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to discuss the ongoing negotiations with the media, said the initial swap would include all the women, children, elderly people and sick captives still held in Gaza.

But Hamas needed time to determine their condition, he added.

"Hamas has agreed to release the 34 prisoners, whether alive or dead," the official said. "However, the group needs a week of calm to communicate with the captors and identify those who are alive and those who are dead."

During their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which began the Gaza war, Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, of whom 96 remain in Gaza. The Israeli military says 34 of those are dead.