MOSCOW, January 6. /TASS/. The Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas has agreed to free 34 hostages from the list provided by the Israeli side within the framework of the first stage of a ceasefire deal on Gaza, the Asharq TV channel said, quoting a source in the movement.
According to the media outlet, the list, submitted by Israel and approved by Hamas, meets the criteria coordinated during the latest round of talks. It includes women, children and those in poor health being held hostage in the Gaza Strip. It was specified that the movement agreed to release these hostages but it needs about a week to determine whether they are alive.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that the list was not prepared by Hamas but handed over by Israel last summer.
On January 5, Reuters said, quoting a Hamas representative, that the movement approved the list of 24 hostages it was ready to release within the framework of the agreement on Gaza. Later, Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister’s office, told TASS that no such list was received by Israel from Hamas during talks.
At the end of November 2023, Hamas reported reaching an agreement with Israel, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, on a humanitarian truce which lasted a week. Israel managed to liberate 110 hostages during this time. On December 1, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire and announced renewed fighting in the Gaza Strip, which continues to this day. After several rounds of talks held in 2024 with the participation of Egypt, Qatar and the US, the parties to the conflict could not reach an agreement on the deal.
On January 2, Netanyahu’s office said that an Israeli delegation will soon travel to Qatar to resume the negotiations. The latest round of dialogue with Israeli representatives was held in Doha at the end of 2024.