"Need time"

Hamas calls for ceasefire to search for hostages

The fate of the Israeli hostages kidnapped in early October 2023 and held in the Gaza Strip can only be clarified during a ceasefire, according to a senior member of the Islamist Hamas.

Part of the negotiations is to reach an agreement on a ceasefire "in order to have enough time and security to collect final and more accurate data on the captured Israelis," Basem Naim, a member of Hamas' politburo, wrote on Telegram on Thursday evening.

Hostages in the hands of various groups
The abductees are in various locations in the embattled Gaza Strip and in the hands of various groups. Some of them were also lying "under the rubble" together with Palestinians who had been killed. "We are negotiating to get heavy equipment for this purpose," the Hamas official said.

Naim was responding to questions from media representatives as to whether Hamas had rejected the latest compromise proposal from the USA because it could not release 40 hostages in the first phase of a three-stage agreement.

No 40 suitable hostages for exchange?
According to media reports, the first phase provided for the release of women, female soldiers, men over 50 and men under 50 with serious medical problems. In the most recent negotiations, however, Hamas declared that it had no 40 living hostages from these categories.

More hostages dead than feared?
This raised fears that significantly more hostages may be dead than previously known. Israel had previously assumed that just under 100 of the 130 or so hostages remaining in the embattled Gaza Strip were still alive.

Hamas is insisting on a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the embattled coastal area. The Israeli government is keeping open the possibility of continuing the fighting after a ceasefire. As Israel and Hamas are not talking directly to each other, the USA, Qatar and Egypt are acting as mediators.