HAMAS SAYS IT HAS APPROVED ISRAELI LIST OF 34 HOSTAGES FOR POSSIBLE DEAL

Mon 06 January 2025:

Israel and Hamas wrangled on Sunday over the details of a deal to halt fighting in the Gaza Strip and return hostages, as Palestinian officials said intensified Israeli bombardments had killed more than 100 people over the weekend, Reuters has reported.

A Hamas official said that the movement had approved a list of 34 Israeli hostages to be returned as part of a deal that could eventually lead to a ceasefire. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office swiftly issued a statement saying that Hamas had not provided a hostage list.

Late on Sunday, the Hamas official provided Reuters with a copy of the list showing the names of 34 hostages it agreed to set free in any possible ceasefire deal with Israel.

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A renewed push is underway to reach a ceasefire in the 15-month Israeli genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and return Israeli hostages before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on 20 January.

The effort comes amid a surge in Israeli military aggression in the enclave. This weekend, Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed 105 Palestinians, said medics. The Israeli military claimed to have killed dozens of Hamas “militants”.

The US State Department said that Israel must comply with international law and do “significantly more to ensure the protection of civilians.” It added, however, that it supports Israel’s “right” to defend itself.

Israeli negotiators were dispatched on Friday to resume talks in Doha brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, and US President Joe Biden’s administration, which is helping to mediate, has urged Hamas to agree to a deal. The movement said on Friday that it was committed to reaching an agreement as soon as possible, but it was unclear how close the two sides were.

A Hamas official told Reuters that any agreement to return Israeli hostages would hinge on a deal for Israel to withdraw from Gaza and agree on a permanent ceasefire or end to the war. “However, until now, the [Israeli occupation regime] continues to be obstinate over an agreement over the issues of the ceasefire and withdrawal, and has made no step forward,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Netanyahu has said consistently that the war will only end once Hamas is eradicated as a military and governing force in Gaza.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza in response to a cross-border incursion led by Hamas on 7 October, 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed — many of them by the Israel Defence Forces — and 250 hostages were taken back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

The Israeli offensive has killed almost 46,000 Palestinians and wounded 109,000 others. An estimated 11,000 are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by Israel, which has levelled large swathes of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli air strikes continued throughout the Gaza Strip on Sunday, with one strike killing five people in a house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, said local health officials, and another killing four in Jabalia in the north of the enclave.

Later in the day, an air strike hit a police station in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing five people, said medics. It was not immediately clear if all of those killed were police officers. At nightfall, medics pointed out that an Israeli air strike had killed three people in Bureij camp in central Gaza, takinbg Sunday’s death toll to 17.

The Israeli army claimed that it had struck Hamas “militants” operating from the humanitarian area in Khan Younis, and an Islamic Jihad “militant” who it said had carried out attacks from the humanitarian area in Deir al-Balah.

In Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan district, relatives and neighbours rushed to the Zuhd family’s house, which was struck by an Israeli air strike late on Saturday, killing seven people, said medics. The search continued on Sunday morning for four others believed to be trapped under the rubble. Three men dug away debris with their bare hands to retrieve bodies and search for possible survivors.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said that its forces had attacked more than 100 targets across Gaza over the weekend, killing dozens of Hamas “militants”. It added that it had also destroyed rocket launching sites that had been used to wage attacks on Israel in recent days. Late on Sunday, the occupation army said that last week in the Jabalia area it killed an Islamic Jihad “militant” who had participated in the 7 October attack on Israel.

-MEMO

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