Hamas lists 34 hostages it may release under a ceasefire

A senior Hamas official has shared with the BBC a list of 34 hostages the Palestinian group says it is ready to release in the first stage of a potential ceasefire deal with Israel.

It is not clear how many hostages remained alive.

Among those named were 10 female and 11 older male hostages aged between 50 and 85, as well as young children, who Hamas earlier said were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

A number of hostages who Hamas says are ill are also on the list.

Reports from Hamas-ruled Gaza said Israeli airstrikes killed more than 100 people there over the weekend.

The Israeli prime minister’s office denied reports that Hamas had provided Israel with a list of hostages.

Ceasefire talks resumed in Doha, Qatar, over the weekend, but talks still appear to have made no significant progress.

A Hamas official told Reuters that any agreement to return Israeli hostages would depend on a deal for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire or an end to the war.

“However, so far the occupation remains stubborn in reaching an agreement on the ceasefire and withdrawal issues and has not taken a step forward,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

earlier, Hamas released a video of 19-year-old Israeli captive Leary Albagh urging her government to strike a deal.

She was captured along with six other female conscripts at the Nahal Oz army base on the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

On that day, extremists led by Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage.

Israel’s military campaign to wipe out Hamas has killed at least 45,805 people in Gaza as of Saturday, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The same source said Israeli airstrikes killed 88 people in Gaza on Saturday alone, while on Sunday Reuters cited health sources as saying another 17 were killed in four separate Israeli attacks on the territory.

Israel’s military said Sunday that its air force struck more than 100 “terrorist” targets in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, killing dozens of Hamas fighters.