Palestinian militant group Hamas on Wednesday said it has agreed to release 10 hostages it is holding in Gaza as part of ceasefire talks with Israel, AFP reported.
The group said that it was working to overcome hurdles despite the “difficulty of negotiations”.
The “core points remain under negotiations”, AFP quoted the militant group as saying.
The group was referring to the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the besieged Palestinian territory and guarantees for a permanent ceasefire.
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza began in October 2023 after Hamas killed 1,200 persons during its incursion into southern Israel and took hostages. Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza since then, leaving more than 57,000 persons dead.
Tel Aviv has also enforced a severe blockade on humanitarian aid, which United Nations officials say has brought the population to the verge of famine.
Efforts to reinstate a brief ceasefire that took effect in January had stalled due to major disagreements between Hamas and Israel.
Israel demands that Hamas should disarm itself and be dismantled as a military and governing power in Gaza, and that the militant group should release all remaining hostages. Hamas insists that Israel must withdraw its forces and agree to end the war.
Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said on Wednesday that “conditions have been created” for a hostage release deal.
“We have achieved many significant results, we have caused great damage to the governance and military capabilities of Hamas,” AFP quoted Zamir as saying in a televised speech. “Thanks to the operational power that we have demonstrated, the conditions have been created to advance a deal to release the hostages.”
On July 2, United States President Donald Trump said that Israel had agreed to the “necessary conditions” to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas.
Trump said that during this period, “we will work with all parties to end the war”.
Washington, a mediator in the talks, is an ally of Israel and acts as a guarantor of the country’s security.
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