Reports of optimism about Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal
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US secretary of state says he is confident agreement can be reached in renewed push before Donald Trump takes office. Israel and Hamas appear to be edging closer towards a ceasefire and hostage release deal that could bring the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip to an end amid reports of optimism among decision makers.
![[A woman passes by a wall covered with photos of hostages still being held in Gaza in Kfar Saba, Israel]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/371c683718d294ed7aa50aa9c9a4928f6f7d9457/0_305_4044_2428/master/4044.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The latest round of negotiations intended to broker a lasting truce in the 15-month-old conflict resumed in Qatar on Sunday. Hamas said on Monday that it had given mediators a list of 34 Israeli captives seized during the group’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which triggered the war, who could be freed as part of the “first phase of a prisoner exchange deal”.
The list included the remaining women, children and older and injured people, Hamas said, although Israel said the militant group had yet to convey whether those named were alive or dead. A Hamas official told Agence France-Presse that the group needed at least a week of calm in Gaza to determine the hostages’ locations and communicate with captors about their status.
Despite the latest talks, Israel has stepped up airstrikes on the Palestinian territory that killed at least 100 people over the weekend, local health officials said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the toll. The same list of 34 hostages was first put forward in July 2024, according to the office of Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli and western intelligence services estimate that at least a third of the remaining 95 or so Israeli captives in Gaza have been killed.
