Hamas is ready to release all remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip during the second phase of a ceasefire between the Palestinian Islamist movement and Israel after 15 months of war, an official with the Palestinian militant group said.
“We informed the mediators that Hamas is ready to release all hostages immediately during the second phase of the deal, not separately as during the first phase that is currently underway,” official Taher al-Nounu told AFP.
He did not specify how many hostages taken during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, are still in the Gaza Strip.
A total of 251 people were kidnapped that day. Seventy are still in custody in Gaza, of whom at least 35 have died, according to the Israeli military.
During the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which will end on March 2, 19 Israeli hostages were released in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.
Exactly 16 days after the ceasefire came into effect on January 19 or early February, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas were supposed to begin, but this did not happen.
The terms of the second phase of the ceasefire, which would definitively end the war and release all hostages, must be finalized by March 2.
Then, if the second phase goes as planned, the third and final phase will focus on rebuilding Gaza. /DLYnews/
