A day after Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire talks would speed up, reports suggest that Israel and Hamas have discussed the names of people who would be exchanged as part of negotiations.
A Hamas delegation that was in Cairo on Sunday submitted a list of hostages who are unwell or aged, reported Al-Araby al-Jadeed, Qatar-owned new outlet, quoting sources. These were among the people who would be freed in the beginning of the proposed ceasefire.
Hundreds of Israeli Jews and Palestinians are currently protesting together against the war and calling for a ceasefire in Tel Aviv
— Zز 🍒🇵🇸🫐 (@z_00pIz) November 18, 2023
War has no winners pic.twitter.com/6jT2Lvnb39
Surprisingly, Hamas also submitted names of four US citizens who were not part of the previous category. Out of the seven hostages with dual US-Israeli citizenship, Israel declared four dead and only three of them are believed to be alive. However, the fourth person in the list is yet to be identified.
Hamas has also submitted a list of Palestinians detained by Israel to be released in exchange of the hostages. Israel is reportedly reviewing the names of the prisoners and decide on the list on Monday.
Demonstrators and police clash in front of Netanyahu's residence on Gaza Street in Jerusalem. Protesters
— S p r i n t e r (@SprinterFamily) November 4, 2023
They demand the immediate resignation of Netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/Xu2bqLxgBx
The last time Israel and Hamas agreed on hostages release and ceasefire was in November 2023, when 105 hostages were released but it lasted only for a week. Israel also rescued eight hostages in August.
Several hostages were killed in Israeli airstrikes and rescue failures, including an instance when IDF mistakenly killed three hostages who escaped captivity in December 2023.
It is believed that Hamas has 96 hostages but many of them are feared dead. IDF has recovered bodies of at least 38 hostages from Gaza.
