“Negotiations for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal to free the remaining 100 captives and implement a pause in fighting “are continuing,” a source familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
“We are progressing slowly,” they added.
A source confirmed to the Post that a decision has not yet been reached to send Mossad head David Barnea to Qatar. “Only when we see a substantial advance that would necessitate his visit, he’ll go,” they said.
Hamas has approved a list of 34 hostages presented by Israel to be exchanged in a possible ceasefire deal, Reuters reported Sunday. In response, the Prime Minister’s Office denied the report.
The source added, “We haven’t gotten any list from Hamas regarding the hostages; we don’t know which hostages are alive or what their conditions are.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it was following closely all reports on an emerging deal that would return their loved ones.
It has been “15 months of indescribable pain – of the hostages, of their families, and all of Israel. This pain must end, and they must be brought home.”
The forum added, “There is no such thing as a ‘humanitarian deal,’” referring to reports that only those hostages that fall under a civilian-humanitarian designation would be released in a partial deal, not kidnapped soldiers. “After so many days in captivity, all the hostages are considered humanitarian!” said the forum.
It called on Netanyahu to instruct the delegation to return “with only one message: A deal that promises the return of all the hostages; leave no one behind!”
National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby stated on Friday that the White House would not send representatives to participate in this round of negotiations but that President Biden “has made clear his national security team will be a participant all the way to the very end.”
“We’re going to be doing everything we can to see if we can broker a new ceasefire deal again that will get the hostages home,” Kirby said. “So I don’t have any breakthroughs to speak to today or announcements to make about participation physically, but I can tell you that we’re definitely going to stay focused on this.”
‘The dynamic has changed’
Last week, Hamas claimed that it cannot reach all of the hostages and will need several days after the ceasefire has already begun to compile the list.
A source with knowledge of the matter told The Jerusalem Post, “Mediators are engaged in a serious and continuous effort to bridge gaps. The dynamic has changed. There is some movement and even some flexibility. But it’s not a done deal.”
Hannah Sarisohn and Amichai Stein contributed to this report.
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