The Israeli government has not received any confirmation that Hamas is willing to release as part of a ceasefire deal 34 hostages whose names were on a list published by media outlets on Monday, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
“The list of hostages that has been published in the media was not provided to Israel by Hamas but was originally given by Israel to the mediators in July 2024,” the PMO said.
“As yet, Israel has not received any confirmation or comment by Hamas regarding the status of the hostages appearing on the list. Israel will continue to act relentlessly for the return of all of our hostages,” added the statement.
Israel’s Channel 12 News reported earlier Monday that Hamas was refusing or unable to confirm whether the designated captives are alive.
Saudi daily al-Sharq had previously published what it claimed are the names on the list. An anonymous Hamas official told the outlet that it would take about a week to determine the condition of each captive, a process the terrorist group is reportedly insisting it will undertake only after a ceasefire is in effect.
The list’s publication had caused distress among the hostages’ families, according to Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“The families of the hostages are shaken and upset by the list published this morning,” the forum said. “We call on the media and the public to show sensitivity and responsibility regarding the publication of this and other such things until a deal is signed, and also during it,” the statement continued.
“The time is ripe for a comprehensive agreement that will return all the hostages – the living for healing, and the murdered and fallen for a proper burial. We are leaving no one behind!”
Mossad chief David Barnea was scheduled to arrive in Doha on Monday for continued ceasefire negotiations, foreign sources involved in the talks told Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster on Sunday night.
US Special Coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk and other top American officials were expected to join as well, according to Ynet.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned senior ministers for an “urgent security discussion,” according to Hebrew media reports.
The discussion included Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and came amid reported progress in the ceasefire negotiations.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich oppose the proposals being reported in recent weeks, and Netanyahu has emphasised that Israeli forces will return to fighting after any ceasefire deal until Jerusalem’s war goals are achieved.
According to Israeli estimates, there are 100 hostages still in Hamas captivity in Gaza, including 96 abducted during the terror group’s massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 251 people were taken.
Of those, 155 have been returned or rescued, and Hamas is believed to be holding 36 bodies, 34 of them taken on October 7 and the remaining two being IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who were kidnapped in 2014.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed optimism on Monday about the likelihood of a ceasefire agreement, though it might not materialise until after President Joe Biden’s term ends on Jan. 20.
Speaking to reporters in Seoul, Blinken stated, “If we don’t finalise it within the next two weeks, I’m confident it will be completed eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later. When it does, it will be based on the plan President Biden proposed.”
President-elect Donald Trump on December 31 reiterated his call for the Israelis in Gaza to be released before he takes office.
An interlocutor asked Trump about the captives, at his Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida, noting that Trump had warned “there will be hell to pay” unless they are freed by the time he is sworn in.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump replied. “They better let the hostages come back soon.”
