Hamas is reportedly refusing to release 12 of the 34 hostages in the first phase of an alleged deal in the works, instead offering the bodies of 12 killed abductees, a Palestinian source told Israeli state news agency KAN on Monday.
The source claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused the release of bodies in the first stage of the deal.
While Hamas has refused to release all the requested 34 living hostages, the terror group has reportedly upped the number of security prisoners it demands released.
Egyptian news channel Al-Ghad reported earlier this month that 11 of the names Israel sent did not meet Hamas’s criteria as the terror organization considered them soldiers. Hamas reportedly only agreed to release the sick, children and the elderly in exchange for 250 security prisoners.
Sources previously revealed to The Jerusalem Post that one of the reasons for a delay in a hostage deal was because Hamas had failed to provide a list of living hostages. Israelis protest against the government and to show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 2023 attack, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel December 14, 2024. (credit: STOYAN NENOV/REUTERS)
While the names of the 22 hostages Hamas has promised to release have not been made public, the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzouk, has previously promised Russia that two Russian citizens would be among the first released.
The two Russian hostages, Alexandre Troufanov and Maxin Herkin, are both being held in Gaza, although Troufanov is by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Hamas made similar promises prior to murdering Russian citizen Alexander Lobanov.
Lobanov’s body was discovered in Gaza in September alongside the bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, and Ori Danino.
Hamas admitted to killing the six hostages. Stay updated with the latest news! Subscribe to The Jerusalem Post Newsletter Subscribe Now
AMICHAI STEIN contributed to this report.
UnTides on December 31st, 2024 at 18:45 UTC »
There's a reason you don't negotiate for hostages, it just incentivises more hostage taking. The only answer to this is taking them back with all necessary force or you risk more innocent people being taken.
MadManMorbo on December 31st, 2024 at 18:24 UTC »
It's because they've brutalized the remaining hostages to the point that they know the entire world will turn on them forever if they give them up.
Mossad should go old school on these evil fucks.
Haunting_Birthday135 on December 31st, 2024 at 17:13 UTC »
A terror group prioritizes its own interests over those of the 2 million people in the Gaza Strip that it claims to protect and care for. More news at eleven.