Israel New talks on hostage agreement in Gaza
According to its own statements, the Islamist Hamas is again negotiating indirectly with Israel about a possible exchange of further hostages from the Gaza Strip for Palestinian prisoners. As the German Press Agency has learned from Hamas circles, Qatar and Egypt have already been named as mediators for some of the hostages in the Gaza Strip.
09.12.2024, 15:29
SDA
Hamas is also working with other groups in the Gaza Strip to list the names of all hostages. Hamas emphasized that the talks could lead to positive results if Israel then adhered to a possible agreement.
The Arab news channel "Asharq" reported, citing people familiar with the deal, that Israel would release no fewer than 100 prisoners in return for an as yet unknown number of hostages held by Hamas. There was no official confirmation of this.
The German Press Agency learned from negotiating circles that there had recently been some progress in the talks. Hamas appears to be more flexible in the negotiations than before. In recent months there has been virtually no progress at all in the talks.
On October 7 last year, terrorists from Hamas and other groups abducted more than 250 people from Israel into the sealed-off coastal area. Around 1,200 people were killed in the unprecedented terrorist attack. It triggered the Gaza war, in which more than 44,500 people were killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian figures.
As part of a ceasefire at the end of November 2023, Hamas released 105 hostages. In return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from prisons. Individual hostages have since been freed by the military and several have been recovered dead. It remains to be seen how many of the hostages are still alive. "Asharq News" reported, citing insiders, that Hamas had given the Egyptian mediator an initial list of names of the hostages still alive.
