Sides said to have agreed on list of Palestinian prisoners to be released but are in contention over whether dangerous convicts should be sent abroad or freed in West Bank
Some hostages’ families have recently received signs of life from their loved ones who are still held captive by Hamas in Gaza, Channel 12 news reported on Friday night.
The report did not identify the families’ identities in order to protect their privacy, nor did it specify what form the signs of life took.
After months in which no signs of life were seen from any of the hostages, Hamas released two videos in the last month of hostages Edan Alexander and Matan Zangauker that were seemingly filmed in the last few weeks.
The families were told by unnamed officials familiar with the issue that the efforts to reach a hostage deal with Hamas are always ongoing, the report said, and that preliminary agreements could be reached within a week to 10 days. They added, however, that Hamas could stall the efforts at any point but that the military pressure of the ongoing war was helping.
“The regional situation in general, the American influence, the status of the war, and more have led to a combination of circumstances that advances the possibility for effective negotiations,” the families were reportedly told.
“Still, it’s important to note that even though the conditions have improved, there are still challenges ahead, and we’re working and hoping for a breakthrough,” the families were told.
Channel 12 also claimed that the sides have agreed on the list of Palestinian security prisoners who will be released during the first phase of the ceasefire in exchange for female, elderly and sick hostages.
However, Kan reported on Friday that a recent point of contention in the talks has been regarding where the prisoners will be released to.
According to the report, unnamed officials said that Israel was demanding for the more dangerous prisoners to be released abroad and not to the West Bank in order to prevent release parties and to stop them from returning to terrorism.
However, the demand is not fully agreed upon within Israel either as other officials told Kan they opposed sending prisoners abroad because they could still perpetrate terrorism or help terrorists in Israel from abroad.
Some officials involved in the negotiations have appeared cautiously optimistic in the last week as they say that progress is being made in the efforts to reach a hostage deal as CIA Director William Burns arrived in Qatar on Wednesday to aid in ongoing talks.
Israeli officials appear more optimistic, however, as they have been telling Hebrew media in recent days that a deal could be days away while an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel on Thursday that it would more likely be weeks.
Numerous attempts to reach a new hostage deal have repeatedly failed over the last year or so as Israel and Hamas have accused each other of sabotaging efforts and have refused to budge on key issues.
However, the current round of negotiations has seemingly come close to securing a deal that would guarantee the release of at least some of the 96 hostages who were abducted during Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel last year and are still being held captive in Gaza.
During the attack, some 3,000 terrorists rampaged through Israel’s southern communities, murdering some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
