Hamas: Hostage release hinges on implementation of ceasefire

CAIRO: Hamas said on Saturday it will only release an American-Israeli and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel implements their ceasefire agreement, calling it an “exceptional deal” aimed at getting the truce back on track.

Israeli airstrikes meanwhile killed nine people in the Gaza Strip who the military identified as militants, allegations denied by a UK-based aid group that said eight of its workers were killed.

A senior Hamas official said long-delayed talks over the ceasefire’s second phase would need to begin the day of the release and last no longer than 50 days.

Israel also would need to stop barring the entry of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt. Israel has said it won’t pull out from the corridor, citing the need to combat weapons smuggling.

Hamas would also demand the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.

Edan Alexander, 21, who grew up in New Jersey, was abducted from his military base during Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. He is the last living US citizen held in Gaza. Hamas still has 59 hostages, 35 believed to be dead.

Speaking at a protest camp set up last week outside Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, relatives of hostages said Netanyahu was “violating the agreement he signed and abandoning the hostages in Gaza”.

“You want to sacrifice our children for the pleasures of power,” said Itzik Horn, father of hostage Eitan and freed hostage Iair.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Saturday told negotiators to prepare for the continuation of talks regarding the release of hostages, his office said. Two Israeli airstrikes in the northern town of Beit Lahiya near the border killed at least nine people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The Palestinian Journalists’ Protection Center, a local watchdog, said the dead included three Palestinian journalists who were documenting aid distribution. Local health official Fares Awad identified one as Mahmoud Islim, who was operating a drone.

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed nine, including aid workers, while Israel claimed they were militants. Hamas called it an escalation. Talks on a ceasefire’s second phase remain stalled. Meanwhile, fuel shortages in Rafah threaten essential services as Israel continues its blockade on Gaza.