Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza attend a ceremony on the first night the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Old City, Dec 25, 2024. Photo by Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90
After reports that the Israeli negotiating team returned from Qatar earlier than expected, it appears that the hostage negotiations have again hit a roadblock .
When the team returned, it became known that Hamas leadership had refused to provide a list of the surviving Israeli hostages, both living and deceased, to be released as part of the ceasefire agreement.
Israeli media reported that the current head of Hamas in Gaza, Muhammad Sinwar, brother of former leader Yahya Sinwar, has taken a harsher stance.
Following those reports, Qatari-owned Arab news site al-Arabi al-Jadeed (The New Arab) published a story that quoted an unnamed Hamas senior official who stated that Hamas did release a partial list of hostages to the mediators.
The official also claimed that Hamas found it “difficult to communicate with all groups tasked with securing prisoners in light of the current security situation.”
The same official denied reports that Sinwar was personally holding up the negotiations, saying that the leadership of the military wing of Hamas, Qassam Brigades, and the political leadership “work in harmony.”
This official said that Hamas had entrusted the decision-making for the hostage negotiations to Khalil Al-Hayya, who served as deputy to Yahya Sinwar. Al-Hayya is also part of a leadership council established after Sinwar was eliminated by Israel Defense Forces.
The New Arab report said one of the remaining issues to be decided in the negotiations is the identity of the Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli jails in exchange for the Israeli hostages.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11 reported that Hamas had previously agreed to present a list of hostages before the start of the ceasefire. However, the group now claims that it cannot provide a full list of surviving hostages due to difficulties communicating with the other Palestinian terror groups in Gaza, primarily due to the combat situation.
Kan also cited Egyptian sources who claimed that Israel, not Hamas, had reneged on its promises at an earlier stage in the negotiations by refusing to allow certain Palestinian prisoners to be released. Hamas has reportedly asked for the release of Marwan Barghouti, a prominent leader in the Fatah movement, and the founder of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah’s military wing.
Barghouti is currently serving five life sentences for his role in the murder of several Israeli civilians. Israel confirmed that it will not release Barghouti.
The report in al-Arabi al-Jadeed also claimed that Israel created additional obstacles by requesting that injured soldiers be included in the hostage release. It was originally expected that Hamas would only release soldiers, including injured soldiers, at the final stage of a ceasefire deal, and would negotiate more harshly for their release.
Israel is concerned that the health of the soldiers is in danger after over 14 months of captivity with little to no medical treatment.
Israeli leaders are also concerned that Hamas will attempt another deception, as it did during the hostage release ceasefire deal in November 2023, when it claimed that it would release a list of additional hostages to be released, but instead resumed attacks on Israel.
In a post on 𝕏, Middle East analyst and senior correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, Seth Frantzman, wrote that Hamas’ refusal to present a list of living hostages proves that “Hamas is still in charge” in the negotiations.
So after a year and two months of war Hamas is still in charge. Bizarre. Remember last year when the narrative was that military pressure would bring more deals. There was no pressure and there were no more deals because Hamas was allowed to keep a rump state in central Gaza… https://t.co/wI10SOMqlv
— Seth Frantzman (@sfrantzman) December 25, 2024
Frantzman further said that the list “should have been provided a year ago.”
He said that Hamas has not demonstrated good faith in the negotiations and their relationship with Qatar has allowed them to act with impunity.
“These hostage talks have never been serious and media reports and leaks have provided false hopes for a year, and it is unconscionable. A disgrace that this was allowed to happen. It also shows Hamas was never under pressure and they think they are winning and their hosts and backers such as Doha told them not to produce a list.”
