The Gaza-based Hamas group has reportedly called for a brief truce with Israel amid the latter's relentless attacks on the besieged Strip for the past few weeks in exchange for the release of 70 hostages, according to a spokesperson of the group's military wing.
The spokesperson of Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, said that the militant group told Qatari mediators that it is ready to release up to 70 women and children in exchange for a five-day truce, NHK reported citing a social media post on Monday. However, the Israeli side has demanded the release of 100 women and children.
Hamas captured 239 hostages during the deadly surprise attack on Israel on October 7 that killed 1,400 people in the Jewish country. The spokesperson accused Israel of hampering the negotiations by continuing its attacks on Gaza and putting the lives of hostages in danger.
This comes after a video on Hamas' social media channel claimed that an Israeli woman hostage in Gaza was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Most of the video shows the woman speaking into camera reading a short statement, where she gave details of her father and mother, her hometown and her Israeli ID, CNN reported.
“Hamas continues to use psychological terror and acts inhumanely, through videos and photos of the hostages, as it has done in the past,” the IDF statement said.
Hamas hostages in Gaza
So far, Hamas has released only four hostages since its October 7 attack. Two of them are senior citizens with ages over 80, while the other two are Judith Raanan and her 18-year-old daughter, Natalie. Hamas has claimed to release them for 'humanitarian reasons' in agreements with the Qatari government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously rejected deals for a ceasefire with Palestinian militant groups in Gaza in return for the release of some of the hostages held in the territory early in the war, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
Multiple US officials have said that negotiations to free the hostages are intense and ongoing with assistance from America, CBS News reported. US President Joe Biden's top Mideast adviser Brett McGurk is heading to Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar with other stops possible.
Earlier, it was reported that talks to free the hostages had broken down after Hamas demanded Israel to allow fuel deliveries in besieged Gaza and declined to guarantee the release of foreign captives.
Hamas has lost control of Gaza: Israel Defence Minister
Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant recently completed a situational assessment of the fighting in Gaza, in which he emphasised the progress of IDF forces have made. "The IDF forces work according to a plan and carry out the missions with precision, lethality and in coordination between the air, sea and land forces, using precise intelligence," he said.
Gallant went on to state that Hamas has "lost control of Gaza," adding that its "terrorists are fleeing south."The Minister also reported that civilians in Gaza are looting Hamas bases because they do not believe it has the power to rule any longer.
"Our forces are advancing, carrying out their missions according to plan when we increase the pressure we see the results, every day we eliminate more Hamas commanders, tens and sometimes hundreds of terrorists and the IDF comes to the center of Gaza City and acts according to its considerations," he added.
Large-scale fighting and bombings in the Gaza Strip began after the deadly surprise attack by Hamas militants on October 7, which killed more than 1,400 people in Israel. In retaliation, Israeli bombardment and ground operations have claimed more than 11,000 lives in Gaza, including over 4,000 children and 3,000 women.
(with agency inputs)
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