Hamas approves Israeli list of hostages for potential exchange
Hamas has approved an Israeli list of 34 hostages to be exchanged in a possible ceasefire deal, Reuters reported, citing a Hamas official.
The Israeli government denied receiving a list of hostages from Hamas, but did not directly respond to the substance of the Reuters report.
The Reuters news agency reported on Sunday, citing an anonymous Hamas official, that the release of the hostages would be contingent on reaching an agreement regarding Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire.
Israel and Hamas are also still negotiating the number and identities of Palestinian prisoners and detainees who would be released in exchange for the hostages.
The Reuters report suggested the list had been presented by Israel.
However, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office appeared to cast doubt on the report.
“Contrary to what was claimed, Hamas has yet to provide a list of hostages,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
CNN has asked the Prime Minister’s Office if Israel had put forward a list of 34 hostages.
It is not clear which hostages are on the list reported by Reuters, or whether they are living or dead. In recent weeks, Israel has told CNN they have yet to receive a full list of living hostages from the militant group.
This comes just days after indirect negotiations for a ceasefire-for-hostages deal resumed in Doha, talks that have so far shown few signs of progress, according to Israeli and Egyptian officials.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that despite reports of new “optimism” around talks, “there is not much new, slow progress for now.”
White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk is among the officials in the Qatari capital, a US official and another person familiar told CNN. Meanwhile Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer is expected to travel to Washington this week and will meet with Biden administration and Trump transition officials, according to an Israeli source.
“What we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks is a re-intensified engagement, including by Hamas, but we have yet to see agreement on the final points,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters during a trip to South Korea on Monday. “We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time we have remaining
On Saturday, Hamas turned up the pressure on Israel at the negotiating table, releasing a video of 19-year-old hostage Liri Albag.
Albag’s family called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize the opportunity to do a ceasefire deal, describing the footage as having “torn our hearts to pieces.”
As of December 5, Hamas was still holding 100 hostages in Gaza, most of whom were abducted during the militant group’s October 7, 2023, cross-border attacks, in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
Of the hostages remaining in captivity in Gaza, at least 36 are believed to be dead, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
CNN has reached out to Hamas and the hostage families forum for comment.
