Hamas has said it is ready to release 34 captives as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, the Reuters and AFP news agencies have reported, citing an official with the Palestinian group.
The Palestinian group, which governs the Gaza Strip, has approved the release of the captives “as part of the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal”, the AFP reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed Hamas official.
The initial swap would include all women, children, elderly people and sick captives being held in Gaza, the AFP reported the official as saying.
But Hamas needed time to determine their condition, he said. “Hamas has agreed to release the 34 prisoners, whether alive or dead. However, the group needs a week of calm to communicate with the captors and identify those who are alive and those who are dead,” the official said.
Reuters cited an unnamed Hamas official as saying a ceasefire deal would depend on Israel agreeing to a permanent ceasefire and its withdrawal from Gaza.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Hamas had yet to provide a list of captives for potential release.
The reports come as negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement are under way in Qatar.
The administration of United States President Joe Biden, which is mediating the talks, is hoping for a last-minute breakthrough in the talks before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Washington wanted to see a ceasefire deal in Gaza concluded before the end of the Biden administration, but it may take longer.
“We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time we have remaining,” Blinken told a press conference in South Korea, where he is on a visit. “If we don’t get it across the finish line in the next two weeks, I’m confident that it will get its completion at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
‘It’s up to Israel’
Reporting from the Qatari capital Doha, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said that there were still significant differences to bridge between the sides.
“In the end, there is a need for a political decision. And this decision right now is with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Hamas has thrown the ball into the Israeli court. And it’s up to Israel whether to take this to the second stage or not,” Hashem said.
Hashem said the negotiations were also occurring in the context of Trump’s warnings about the consequences of not reaching a deal.
“Trump warned just a few weeks ago that if there is no ceasefire when he takes office, then hell is going to be unleashed. So, who is he warning? Is it Netanyahu? Unlikely. Hamas? Very likely,” Hashem said.
“So, how will Hamas deal with this? Are they going to give up what they’ve been seeking? Especially the issue of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire. Because right now, at the time that Hamas releases the captives it’s holding, there is no guarantee that this war will end. And that’s why Hamas wants a clear commitment from Israel.”
Israel on Sunday continued to bombard Gaza, with its military claiming to have struck more than 100 “terror targets” in the enclave over the weekend.
Gaza health officials said Israeli strikes had killed more than 100 Palestinians, including five people at a house in the Nuseirat camp and five at a police station in Khan Younis.
More than 45,800 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks on the country.