(BBC): A senior Hamas official gave the BBC a list of 34 hostages the Palestinian group claims it is willing to release as part of a potential peace agreement with Israel.
Ten ladies, eleven old males between the ages of fifty and eighty-five, and small toddlers are among the eclectic collection of captives on the list. Some of the youngsters were killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to a previous Hamas account, but their presence on the list calls into question their status.
In addition to this, the list also contains hostages that Hamas says are in poor health. It's unclear if these people are still alive, though.
Israeli airstrikes killed over 100 people in Gaza over the weekend, according to reports from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, adding to the already high number of persons killed in the ongoing conflict.
The Prime Minister's Office of Israel denied that Hamas had given them direct access to the list. The office explained that Israel had actually given the media-reported list of hostages to middlemen as early as July 2024.
"Israel has not yet obtained any indication or statement from Hamas concerning the status of the captives on the list," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office stated.
Hamas's decision to make the hostage list public is thought by some analysts to be an effort to coerce the Israeli government into holding ceasefire talks.
Reports suggest that not much has been accomplished in the ceasefire discussions since they resumed over the weekend in Doha, Qatar.
Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire or end to the war are prerequisites for any deal on the repatriation of Israeli hostages, according to a Hamas official. According to the official, Israel's inaction on these matters is causing any possible accord to be delayed.
Israel is still "obstinate" in the ceasefire and disengagement talks, the official, who spoke to Reuters on requests for anonymity, noted, suggesting that the issue is still very controversial.
In a parallel move, Hamas shared a video of Israeli hostage Liri Albag, 19, and called on the Israeli government to negotiate her release. When Hamas attacked Israel's Nahal Oz army base on October 7, 2023, she and six other female soldiers were taken prisoner.
That day, Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing almost 1,200 people and capturing 251 captives, including civilians and military personnel.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, aimed at eliminating Hamas, has led to a devastating toll in the region. As of Saturday, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reported that at least 45,805 people had been killed in the Israeli airstrikes.
Due to Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, the death toll kept rising. According to the ministry, 88 people were killed in airstrikes on Saturday, and four other Israeli raids on Sunday claimed the lives of an additional 17.
Responding to the attack, the Israeli military said its air force killed dozens of Hamas terrorists over the weekend by striking over 100 "terrorist" installations in Gaza.
International efforts to mediate a ceasefire have not yet produced meaningful results, and both sides have continued to use military force in the ongoing conflict, which is characterized by a significant number of fatalities and hostages.
