Israel, Hamas negotiate to release civilian hostages in Gaza

Israel and Hamas are currently negotiating two hostage release proposals, one involving a small number of people to be released

Tel Aviv: Israel and Hamas are currently negotiating two hostage release proposals, one involving a small number of people to be released, and the other involves the release of 100 or more civilians held in Gaza, as per officials, The New York Times reported.

The Hamas terror group has over 240 hostages captivated in Gaza, according to Israeli officials, adding that a little less than half of them are civilians, and the larger deal negotiated would involve the release of all of those civilians.

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According to the first proposal, Hamas would have to release 10 to 20 civilian hostages, including Israeli women and children as well as foreigners, including Americans, and in exchange, Israel will put a brief pause in hostilities, according to one of the officials. It would be followed by a larger release of about 100 civilians if both of them agreed.

Although Hamas has refused to release any of the military-age Israeli men held in Gaza, the officials said.

Additionally, in exchange for releasing all civilians, Hamas is asking for a brief pause, along with more humanitarian aid, fuel for hospitals and the release of women and children in Israeli prisons, the official added.

However, Israeli authorities have expressed uncertainty about releasing their prisoners, reported The New York Times.

Qatar, which hosts the political offices of Hamas, has been the main mediator in these talks, along with senior US officials.

Moreover, US officials have supported the offered proposal of Israel pausing its attacks in Gaza for a hostage release, adding that this would allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and the hostages to leave after their capture.

Earlier on Friday, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said, “We’ll continue to focus relentlessly on getting our hostages home.” However, the Israeli PM’s office refused to comment on this for now, according to The New York Times.

However, what could complicate matters is that, Hamas has told Qatari negotiators that it held 20 or fewer civilians, and the rest were being held by other groups in Gaza, who are not part of the Hamas command structure.

However, the New York Times reported that the governments involved in the talks had not independently verified this claim.

In the last weeks, some Hamas officials have argued that the terror group raided only military outposts in Israel on October 7, and armed men killed over 1000 Israelis and took about 240 hostages in Gaza.

However, according to the videos and other evidence, Hamas also attacked civilians in their homes, reported The New York Times.

Moreover, Hamas officials told the negotiators that they have all or almost all of the Israeli military personnel who were captured, stating 130 to 140, adding that they have no intention of releasing them soon.

However, Israeli officials have not released any breakdowns of military versus civilian hostages.
Israeli and US officials are sceptical of Hamas’s claims that they are not holding many of the civilians in Gaza.