IDF negotiator said to give PM report saying hostages’ lives in mounting danger, urges flexibility

Ahead of today’s talks in Doha, Major General (res.) Nitzan Alon, the IDF’s point man in the negotiations for a hostage-ceasefire deal in Doha, gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a document setting out details regarding the status and conditions of the hostages held in Gaza, a report claims, drawing a denial from the premier’s office.

The document reportedly warns that the remaining living hostages face a “growing threat” to their lives the longer they spend in Hamas captivity, and urges flexibility in Israel’s negotiations to take this mounting danger into account.

According to a Channel 12 news report, the document includes details regarding those hostages who were murdered by Hamas on October 7 and their bodies abducted, those who were murdered by their captors in Gaza, those who were killed inadvertently by the IDF in the course of its operations in Gaza, and those who are alive.

The document reportedly specifies, as follows, the deteriorating conditions in which the hostages are held, and the growing risk to their lives: “There has been an ongoing worsening of the conditions in which the hostages are held as regards their: isolation, sanitation and medicines, especially as regards the harsh conditions underground.

“The more that time passes, the greater the threat to the hostages’ lives,” it adds.

“In light of this,” the document states, “significant consideration should be given in the negotiations to the negative impact of the time the hostages are spending in captivity.

Furthermore, “In light of this, the place for flexibility should be found in the framework of the negotiations.”

Alon, in his document, also reportedly warns that the current “chaos” in Gaza exacerbates the hostages’ situation:”The chaos on the ground [in Gaza] stemming from Hamas’s difficult situation does not work only to Israel’s benefit; it makes the hostages’ conditions harsher, and makes it harder for us to know how they are and what is happening to them.”

Netanyahu’s office responds to the report, claiming Alon did not present the premier with any document, and that Netanyahu “gave the negotiation team a mandate that was agreed upon by all security chiefs and the negotiating team.”

It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.