Home Australia Hamas demands ‘extra compensation’ for releasing 11 male Israeli hostages in first phase of potential ceasefire deal

Hamas demands ‘extra compensation’ for releasing 11 male Israeli hostages in first phase of potential ceasefire deal

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Hamas is demanding “additional compensation” in exchange for including 11 men as hostages in the first phase of a potential ceasefire deal, reports claim.

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ghad reported that in exchange for including 11 male hostages, all of whom Hamas considers soldiers, the terrorist group is implicitly asking for the release of Palestinian prisoners who do not fit into the agreed categories.

While this has not been officially confirmed, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Saturday that Israel has agreed to release 200 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in an Israeli jail, although negotiations over who will be freed have stalled.

Al-Ghad reported that Israel is asking for 34 hostages, including the 11 men, to be released in this first round of a possible ceasefire agreement.

Other issues under discussion include the possible reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt and the possible withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Netzarim Corridor, a perpendicular line that divides the Gaza Strip in two.

In addition to this, Hamas is calling for Gaza civilians to be allowed to return to the north of the Strip, as well as a gradual withdrawal of troops from the Philadelphia Corridor, a strip of land patrolled by Israel that runs parallel to Gaza’s border with Egypt.

As negotiations continue, Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight killed at least 16 people, Palestinian medical officials said.

An attack on a school housing displaced people in Gaza City killed at least six people, including four children, according to Civil Defense, aid workers affiliated with the Hamas-led government. The Israeli military said it carried out a targeted attack on Hamas militants sheltering there.

Hamas is demanding “additional compensation” in exchange for including 11 male hostages in the first phase of a potential ceasefire deal, reports claim.

Protesters play drums during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024.

Protesters play drums during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024.

An attack on a house in the central city of Deir al-Balah on Saturday night killed at least eight people, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.

Two more people were killed in an attack in the southern city of Khan Younis on Sunday shortly after midnight, according to the nearby Nasser Hospital.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on those attacks.

Israel has continued to carry out daily attacks in Gaza after more than 14 months of war with Hamas. It says it only attacks militants, whom it accuses of hiding among civilians, but the bombings frequently kill women and children.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants swept into southern Israel in a surprise attack, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza. , at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s subsequent bombings and ground invasion have killed more than 45,000 people in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

The offensive has caused widespread destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into squalid tent camps along the coast as the cold, wet winter sets in.

Funeral prayers are held for Palestinians who died in Israeli strikes, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on December 22, 2024.

Funeral prayers are held for Palestinians who died in Israeli strikes, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on December 22, 2024.

Palestinians inspect damage at the site of an Israeli attack on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024.

Palestinians inspect damage at the site of an Israeli attack on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024.

A young man searches for survivors at the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the Abu Samra family home in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024.

A young man searches for survivors at the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the Abu Samra family home in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024.

Israel has been carrying out a major operation in northern Gaza since early October, fighting Hamas in the most isolated and damaged part of the territory.

Tens of thousands have fled as the army ordered a complete evacuation and allowed almost no humanitarian aid in.

The Israeli military body that oversees civil affairs in Gaza, known as Cogat, said it had facilitated the evacuation of more than 100 patients, caregivers and others from Kamal Adwan Hospital and Awda Hospital in the far north, who have struggled to work.

Cogat said it had also facilitated the delivery of 5,000 liters of fuel and food parcels to hospitals.

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