2024-04-10 13:42:48
Washington, USA (CNN)– Informed sources told the network CNNOn Wednesday, Hamas informed negotiators that it is currently unable to identify and track 40 Israeli hostages wanted for the first phase of the war. Proposed ceasefire agreementraising concerns that more hostages may have been killed than are publicly known.
The proposed framework drawn up by the negotiators stipulates that during the first 6-week cessation of fighting, Hamas must release the remaining 40 hostages, including all women as well as sick and elderly men. In return, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons.
A source familiar with the negotiations and an Israeli official said that Hamas informed international mediators, including Qatar and Egypt, that it does not have 40 hostages alive who meet those criteria. CNN’s chronicle of hostage conditions also indicates that there are fewer than 40 hostages alive who meet the proposed criteria.
The informed source said that Hamas’s inability – or unwillingness – to tell Israel which hostages will be released alive represents a major obstacle. The Israeli official said that with Hamas apparently unable to reach 40 in the proposed categories, Israel has pressured Hamas to complete the initial release of hostages with the youngest, including soldiers.
Throughout the months of negotiations since the last ceasefire, Israel has repeatedly requested a list of the names of the hostages and their conditions. Hamas has argued that it needs to stop fighting so it can track down and round up the hostages, which it also argued last November before a week-long pause that collapsed after Hamas failed to hand over more hostages.
The majority of the hostages still alive, about 100 in number, are believed to be male IDF soldiers or men of military reserve age. It is expected that Hamas will try to use them in later stages to try to negotiate more significant concessions, including more high-level prisoners and a permanent end to the war.
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