Hamas prepares to release 34 Israeli hostages detained in Gaza

The allegedly ready to release 34 hostages from the while Netanyahu says there is no corresponding list from the Islamist movement. A specific Hamas official told the French Agency that the Palestinian Islamist movement is ready to release 34 hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip during the “first phase” of an agreement with Israel. CORVERSE Hamas “accepted to release 34 Israeli prisoners from a list that Israel gave in the first phase of an agreement to exchange prisoners,” said the official, clarifying that the list included “all women, the sick, the children and the elderly Israelis” among hostages. “Hamas and resistance groups need almost a week of calm to communicate with the kidnappers and locate the (homeless) dead or alive,” he added. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated for his part in a statement that “unlike what was mentioned, Hamas has still not given a list of hostages.” CORVERSE Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel resumed this weekend in Qatar with a view to reaching an agreement on ceasefire and the release of hostages detained in Gaza after the Palestinian Islamist movement attacked Israeli territory on 7 October 2023. Despite intense diplomatic efforts under the auspices of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, no truce has been agreed after that which lasted a week in late November 2023. This truce made it possible to release 105 hostages in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. During the October 7 attack, in which more than 1,200 people died on the Israeli side, in their majority civilians, according to a count based on official evidence, 251 people were kidnapped. A total of 96 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom are confirmed dead according to the army.