Negotiations Stuck as Hamas Refuses to Provide a List of the Hostages

Photo Credit: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90

A rally calling for the release of the hostages from Gaza was held at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, December 24 2024.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office on Tuesday night issued a statement saying, “The negotiating team, which includes senior personnel from the Mossad, the Shin Bet, and the IDF, will return this evening from Qatar to Israel following a week of significant negotiations. The team has returned for internal consultations in Israel regarding the continuation of the negotiations for the return of our hostages.”

However, despite this optimistic message, it appears that the hostage negotiations are stuck over Hamas’s refusal to provide a list of the hostages, living and dead, who are supposed to be released in the first phase of the deal.

According to Kan11 News, citing Israeli sources close to the negotiations, Hamas has been ignoring the pressure from the mediators, with Hamas leader in Gaza, Muhammad Sinwar, (surviving brother of you-know-who) presenting tougher positions than Yahya.

According to reports in the Saudi media, the hostage releases will comprise three phases, the first of which is the humanitarian phase, which includes delivering additional aid into the Gaza Strip, the release of all the kidnapped Israeli women, including the female soldiers, and Israeli civilians – both living and dead – in exchange for the release of hundreds of security prisoners.

However, despite a string of promising statements from Hamas, the surviving Sinwar appears to be toying with Israel, using the hostages to deepen the gap in Israeli society and torture the hostages’ families even more.

According to Barak Ravid, citing an Israeli official familiar with the matter, the return of the negotiating team to Israel was intended to assess the situation regarding the negotiations and decide whether there is a need for decisions by the political echelon, such as expanding the team’s mandate.

“The return of the team is not because of a breakdown in the negotiations,” said the Israeli official.

Senior American and Israeli officials conceded that without receiving the list of hostages Hamas intends to release there is a fundamental difficulty in moving forward because Israel cannot know whom it would receive in the deal.

Meanwhile, Israel’s mainstream media and the prime minister’s political enemies have had no problem blaming the stagnated release talks on Netanyahu, with some even going so far as to accuse him of wishing the hostages would die in captivity.