Hamas Counts Israeli Hostages in Preparation for a Possible Exchange

10th December 2024

4 minutes read

Hamas Counts Israeli Hostages in Preparation for a Possible Exchange

Negotiations on prisoners and a ceasefire are expected to begin in the coming days in Cairo.

Hamas has contacted the factions holding Israeli hostages in Gaza since the attack of October 7, 2023, requesting a precise count of the hostages, whether alive or dead, according to sources within the factions.

Washington denies using floating dock in rescue of Israeli hostages and announces completion of aid deliveries
Doha negotiates with Hamas to bring in medicines for Israeli hostages

Sources within the Palestinian factions holding Israeli hostages, speaking anonymously, said, “Hamas has asked factions such as Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front, and the Popular Resistance Committees to prepare files on the Israeli prisoners in their custody, including all details about the condition of living hostages and the bodies of those who have died.”

The sources pointed out that these arrangements are “to ensure readiness for Hamas and the resistance factions in the event of a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire agreement.”

An informed source within Hamas stated, “Unless the Israeli withdrawal and free movement between the north and south of the Gaza Strip occur, it is difficult to reach all the groups holding prisoners to know details about the living and the dead among them.”

The source emphasized, “If the occupation wants to release the prisoners, the solution is a serious and fair exchange deal and an end to the war, not the continuation of aggression.” He clarified that “the factions holding prisoners need enough time to count the living prisoners, in addition to the bodies of those who were killed in Israeli airstrikes or the bodies of the dead held by the Al-Qassam Brigades and the resistance during the ‘Storm al-Aqsa’ attack,” referring to the attack carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7 of last year.

On the opposite side, families of Israeli hostages are pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike a deal with Hamas for the release of their children.

The source added that “mediators in Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey have intensified their contacts with Hamas in recent days, and we expect negotiations on prisoners and a ceasefire to begin in the coming days in Cairo,” further stating that “Hamas is ready to conclude a prisoner exchange and ceasefire agreement if the occupation adheres to it.”

On Saturday, the leadership of Hamas, headed by the chairman of the Executive and Shura Council of the movement, Mohammad Darwish, held several meetings in Doha, including with the Iranian Foreign Minister and the Turkish Intelligence Minister, to discuss the mediators’ efforts to launch a new round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange, according to a statement from Hamas.

The war in the Gaza Strip broke out on October 7, 2023, following the Hamas attack. This attack resulted in 1,207 deaths, mostly civilians, according to a tally by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli figures. This tally includes hostages who were killed or died while being held in the Palestinian enclave.

During the attack, 251 people were abducted from inside Israel. 97 of them are still held in the Gaza Strip, including 34 individuals whom the Israeli army declared to have been killed.

On the Palestinian side, at least 44,708 people have been killed, mostly civilians, since the start of the Israeli military operation in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, considered reliable by the United Nations.

Israel and Hamas agreed on one ceasefire in the Gaza war, a week-long truce in late November 2023, which allowed the release of over 100 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

On the ground, Palestinian health officials reported on Sunday that Israeli forces had bombed the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, causing damage to the electrical network and oxygen pumps, and disrupting urgent surgical operations.

Hossam Abu Safiya, director of the hospital, one of the three barely functioning facilities in the north of the area, said the establishment had been hit by about 100 shells and bombs, injuring several medical staff and patients.

He stated in a release: “The situation is extremely critical. We have patients in intensive care and others waiting for operations. The operating rooms are only accessible after securing electricity and oxygen.”

He added that the hospital was treating 112 injured patients, six of whom were in intensive care. The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, led by Hamas, reported that a doctor and his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike near Kamal Adwan Hospital on Saturday evening.

Residents reported that the Israeli army had blown up houses in the Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun areas of northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have been conducting operations since October.

Later on Sunday, rescue teams announced that an Israeli airstrike had killed five Palestinians in downtown Gaza, bringing the number of victims from airstrikes in the region on Sunday to 11.

Palestinians claim that Israeli operations in the northern part of the sector are part of a forced evacuation and bombing plan to create a buffer zone, a claim denied by the Israeli military, which insists it is fighting Hamas militants.