As Israeli and Hamas officers continued oblique talks on Monday for a cease-fire and hostage launch deal, Hamas representatives indicated that the group had accredited an Israeli listing of 34 hostages to be launched within the first stage of an settlement, conveying a way of momentum.
However the Israeli authorities shortly dampened any notion that Hamas’s acceptance of the listing constituted a big breakthrough towards ending the battle in Gaza.
Right here’s what we all know in regards to the listing of hostages and the state of the talks, after months of false begins and failed rounds.
What Hamas is saying
A Hamas consultant briefed on the negotiations advised The New York Instances on Monday that if a deal is reached, Hamas agrees to launch the 34 hostages whose names seem on a listing that Israel offered by way of mediators. The consultant spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of the talks are being held in secrecy.
The US has lengthy been pushing for a deal and is attempting to facilitate one with the assistance of Qatar and Egypt, the 2 important nations mediating between Israel and Hamas.
The Reuters information company reported on Sunday night time that Hamas had accredited the listing introduced by Israel. The report cited an unnamed Hamas official who added that any hostage deal was contingent upon Israel agreeing to a timetable for withdrawal from Gaza and a everlasting cease-fire, in step with Hamas’s longstanding calls for.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has refused to brazenly declare any willingness to finish the battle, vowing to eradicate Hamas as a army power and governing energy in Gaza.
Roughly 100 hostages are nonetheless being held in Gaza out of some 250 individuals taken captive through the Hamas-led assaults in October 2023 that prompted the battle. At the very least a 3rd of the captives are presumed to be lifeless, in keeping with Israel.
A weeklong truce in November 2023 allowed for the discharge of 105 hostages in change for some 240 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel. Just a few hostages have been rescued alive by Israeli forces, and the our bodies of dozens of others have been recovered. Israeli troopers unintentionally killed three hostages whom they misidentified as fighters.
Subsequent efforts to succeed in a cease-fire have faltered amid gaps within the two sides’ calls for, with either side blaming the opposite for thwarting efforts to succeed in a deal.
What Israel says
Israel despatched the unique listing of hostages to be launched within the first part of any deal to the mediators in July 2024, in keeping with a press release launched on Monday by Mr. Netanyahu’s workplace.
However the listing has since been up to date as a result of three of those that initially appeared on it — Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli twin citizen, and two Israeli girls, Carmel Gat and Eden Yerushalmi — have been killed by their captors in late August. The newer model of the listing was published by the BBC on Monday, and Mr. Netanyahu’s workplace appeared to substantiate its authenticity.
On this newest spherical of talks, Israel has demanded data from Hamas about which hostages stay alive. With out that, Israeli officers say, there could be no settlement on what number of Palestinian prisoners Israel could be keen to launch in change for them.
“As but, Israel has not obtained any affirmation or remark by Hamas relating to the standing of the hostages showing on the listing,” Mr. Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned in its assertion, including, “Israel will proceed to behave relentlessly for the return of all of our hostages.”
The Hamas consultant who spoke to The Instances mentioned the group wouldn’t give Israel particulars on the standing of the 34 hostages on the listing with out getting some issues in return.
The listing consists of 10 girls, 5 of them troopers; 11 older male hostages aged between 50 and 85; two younger kids who Hamas beforehand mentioned had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, however whose deaths haven’t been confirmed by the Israeli authorities; and different male hostages whose launch Israel considers pressing.
Along with Israel’s demand for data on the standing of the hostages, different sticking factors stay within the negotiations, in keeping with Israeli and Hamas officers. An Israeli official accustomed to the matter, who was not licensed to debate the negotiations publicly, mentioned on Monday that the talks have been progressing and that the edges have been nearer than they’ve been shortly. However the official cautioned that they’ve additionally been at an analogous level earlier than.
Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting from Jerusalem.