From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 13, 2025
Hamas confirms progress in hostage-ceasefire talks: ‘Our prisoners will soon be free’
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The Hamas terror group confirms that progress has been made toward a hostage-ceasefire deal.
“We renew our pledge with our steadfast and patient people and with our heroic prisoners in the prisons, and we affirm that their freedom is near,” the group says.
The statement comes after a breakthrough was apparently achieved in talks in Doha overnight.
A Qatari official said Israel and Hamas have both been handed a “final” draft of the proposal, although an Israeli official later denied the claim.
A potential deal is expected to see hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including terror convicts, released to secure the freedom of hostages held in the Strip.
It is believed that 94 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
The Times of Israel Community.