ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATES THAT 51 CAPTIVES ARE STILL ALIVE: REPORT

Of the 101 captives being held by Hamas in Gaza, 51 are still alive, Israel Hayom has reported, citing Israeli intelligence assessments.

Pressure has been mounting on Netanyahu’s administration to secure a deal for the release of the remaining captives.

The Hebrew daily added that while conclusive evidence of the death of other hostages is still lacking, the security establishment has sufficient information to believe additional hostages are likely no longer alive.

An official reportedly told Israel Hayom that the families of hostages who are no longer believed to be alive were notified of such assessments. While some accepted these estimates, others preferred to wait for conclusive evidence. 

According to the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in September that only half of the hostages were still believed to be alive. 

In June, the Wall Street Journal cited US officials as saying that only 50 out of the 120 hostages detained at the time in captivity were still alive. 

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Hostage deal negotiations 

This comes amid efforts to renew hostage deal negotiations. In late October, it was reported that negotiators holding talks in Qatar’s capital of Doha discussed a deal that would see a limited number of hostages released in exchange for a short-term ceasefire. 

Israel maintains its commitment to bringing home all hostages, dead or alive. While recent negotiation frameworks prioritized the return of living hostages, the dwindling number of survivors and ongoing threats to their lives have prompted security officials to push harder for an immediate deal.

CIA Director Bill Burns has proposed a 28-day ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for Hamas releasing eight hostages and Israel freeing dozens of Palestinian prisoners, Axios reported, citing three Israeli officials.

The head of the U.S. intelligence agency advanced the plan during discussions last Sunday in Doha with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and Mossad director David Barnea.

Burns’s proposal does not address Hamas’s key demands of a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. Axios noted that an agreement was unlikely before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the return of the 101 hostages has become the IDF’s “most important mission” in Gaza.

Speaking during a visit to the site where Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces three weeks ago, Gallant said that the IDF will continue to put “as much pressure on Hamas as possible in order to create the conditions necessary to ensure the return of the hostages.”

The government, he continued, “must do what is necessary to bring about a deal. You must apply military pressure and do what is necessary to create the conditions required for us to carry out an agreement. This is our most important mission in Gaza at this time.”

According to Israeli officials, 251 people were taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023 and nearly half of the captives have been released.

Others are still in captivity with some confirmed or feared dead. Hamas has announced multiple times that some of the captives were killed in Israeli attacks.