The Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas has delivered to Israel a list with the names of the 34 hostages he would free in a first phase of a ceasefire agreement, which includes two children – the Bibas brothers -, ten women, 11 elderly people and another 11 men under 50 years of age. “That is the list provided by Hamas,” sources close to the negotiations confirmed to EFE this Monday, although it is not clear. if all of them are alive.
For its part, Hamas has not yet officially confirmed the veracity of the list, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government denied on Sunday night that it had received any list. However, according to what they say from the BBCa senior official of the Islamist group would have leaked the entire document to the press, which would include the 34 names of the hostages and their ages.
“The fear is that Hamas will use the possible agreement to fundamentally hand over bodies of dead hostages. “Israel wants to avoid that and prioritize live captives in the first phase,” the same sources told EFE. According to the Saudi media Al Sharq —which would also have received the list—, Hamas will need a week to confirm in what state these hostages are and where, since some are in the hands of other armed groups within the Gaza Strip, such as the Islamic Jihad.
Families of hostages demand an agreement
As indicated this Monday by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, they are still waiting for confirmation from Hamas on the situation of all those kidnapped. For their part, the hostage families They said in a joint statement that they were “deeply shocked and distressed” by the list published this morning.
“The time has come for reach a comprehensive agreement to allow the return of all hostages: more than half are still alive and need rehabilitation, while those murdered must be returned for burial. We have no more time to waste. “A ceasefire agreement for the hostages must be sealed now!” they have demanded.
The complete list appears the Israeli-Argentine Bibas family: Shiri Silberman Bibas, her husband Yarden Bibas, and their children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who served five and one years in captivity. Kfir, who was kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz at just nine months old, will turn two years old on January 18.
Status of negotiations
Delegations from Israel and Hamas resumed talks this weekend negotiations in Qatarafter its failure in December, and the head of Mossad, David Barnea – who leads the Israeli negotiating team – is scheduled to travel to Doha this Monday to continue the dialogue.
Netanyahu met on Sunday with his government’s top ministers, as well as the negotiating team, to discuss progress in the talks, which an Israeli official told Hebrew media are “promising.” Several Hamas officials have also referred in recent days to They are on a “good course”and stressed that they are at a “decisive” moment.
In almost fifteen months of war, the parties only achieved a one-week truce agreement at the end of November 2023, in which They exchanged 105 hostages for 240 prisoners Palestinians, in addition to stopping the fighting.
Of the 251 hostages that Hamas took captive on October 7, 96 remain inside the Strip – 34 of them confirmed dead -; while 117 have survived – only 8 in military operations – and 38 bodies have been rescued by troops in the enclave.
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