Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that only half of the 97 remaining hostages taken to Gaza during the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7 are still alive.

“According to the information we have, half of the hostages in Gaza are alive,” Netanyahu informed lawmakers during a closed session of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee in Jerusalem, as reported by Israel’s Army Radio.

The terror group currently holds 101 hostages, including 97 of the 251 captured on October 7. This revelation comes amid ongoing efforts to negotiate a ceasefire and secure the release of the hostages.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, speaking on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, attributed the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations to Hamas. “I would say that we are not achieving any progress here in the last week to two weeks. Not for lack of trying,” Kirby told host George Stephanopoulos.

Kirby suggested that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is not negotiating in good faith, particularly after the “execution-style” murders of six abductees in a tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza in late August.

“It doesn’t appear as if he is willing to move this forward,” Kirby said, emphasising that the United States is still striving to reach an agreement.

“The president talked about this a few days ago. Things can be unrealistic until all of a sudden they are realistic, and that’s why our team is still engaged with Qatar, with Egypt, with the Israelis to see if we can’t move it forward,” Kirby added.