A senior Hamas official says that only a ceasefire can provide “enough time and safety” to locate Israeli hostages being held across the Gaza Strip and ascertain their fate.
Negotiations for a ceasefire have been underway in Cairo since Sunday, but so far there has been no breakthrough on a proposal presented by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
“Part of ]the] negotiations is to reach a ceasefire agreement to have enough time and safety to collect final and more precise data about the captured Israelis,” Hamas official Bassem Naim says in a statement. This is “because they are [held] in different places by different groups, some of them are under the rubble killed with our own people, and we negotiate to get heavy equipments for this purpose.”
Israel believes that of the 129 hostages kidnapped from Israel on October 7 who are still being held in Gaza, at least 34 are confirmed to be dead, although US and Israeli officials have hinted in recent days that the number could be much higher.
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From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 11, 2024
