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Yossi Zeliger/TPS-IL on 18 December, 2024
Published Hostage List Was Given by Israel to Mediators in 2024, Says Netanyahu’s Office
Jerusalem, 6 January, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- After BBC News and the Saudi paper Asharq al-Awsat published a list of 34 Israelis that Hamas said would be released in a potential ceasefire agreement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the list was merely a document that Israel gave to mediating countries in July 2024.
Hamas did not indicate if any of the names listed were alive. It included soldiers, civilians, minors and individuals Israeli believes to be deceased.
“To date, Israel has not received any confirmation or comment from Hamas regarding the status of the hostages on the list,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters denounced the list’s publication, saying, “The families of the hostages are deeply shaken and distressed by the list published this morning.” It asked journalists “to show sensitivity and responsibility in handling this information.”
Said the Forum, “The time has come for a comprehensive agreement that will bring back all hostages – we know more than half are still alive and need immediate rehabilitation, while those who were murdered must be returned for proper burial. We have no more time to waste. A hostage ceasefire agreement must be sealed now!”
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
