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January 7, 2025 | 11:43 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pushing for a ceasefire by Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza war before President Joe Biden leaves office, after a Hamas official told Reuters the group had submitted a list of 34 hostages to be released if a ceasefire was reached.
"We would very much like to get this done in the next two weeks, which is the time we have left," Blinken said when asked if a ceasefire deal was imminent at a news conference in South Korea on Monday, January 6, 2025, as quoted by Reuters.
Israel has sent a team of mid-level officials to Qatar for talks brokered by Qatar and Egypt as a mediator. Several Arab media reports said David Barnea, the Mossad chief who has been leading the negotiations, was expected to join them. The Israeli prime minister's office declined to comment.
It remains unclear how close the two sides are, with some signs of movement but little indication of a shift in some of the key demands that have so far stymied a ceasefire for more than a year. US President-elect Donald Trump said there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if hostages held by Hamas are not released before his inauguration on Jan. 20. The remarks are now seen in the region as an unofficial deadline for a ceasefire deal.
Nearly 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, according to Gaza health officials. The offensive, which began after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, assault, captured more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
More than 100 hostages are believed to still be held in Gaza. Hamas says it will not release them without a deal ending the Gaza war with Israeli troops withdrawing. Tel Aviv says it will not stop its offensive until Hamas is dissolved as a military and governing force and all hostages are freed.
Earlier, a Hamas official told Reuters the group had approved a list submitted by Israel of 34 hostages who could be released in the initial stages of a ceasefire. The list provided by the official includes female soldiers, plus elderly civilians, women and minors.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the list had been given by Israel to Qatari mediators since July 2024. Israel has so far received no confirmation or comment from Hamas on whether the hostages on the list are still alive.
"Israel will continue to act relentlessly to bring back all our hostages," Netanyahu said in a statement.
Israeli forces, which have intensified their operations in recent weeks, have continued bombardment across the enclave. The Gaza Health Ministry said strikes killed at least 48 people and wounded 75 in the past 24 hours.
The harsh winter weather continues to take its toll on hundreds of thousands of people who have fled to makeshift shelters. Officials said a 35-day-old baby died from the cold, at least the eighth victim of the cold in the past two weeks.
Officials from Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip said an Israeli airstrike on a school compound housing displaced families wounded at least 40 people.
On Monday, Israeli police said three rockets were fired from Gaza, one of which hit a building in the Israeli town of Sderot without causing any casualties. In the occupied Palestinian West Bank, violence has also escalated since the start of the Gaza war. Gunmen in the West Bank killed three Israelis and wounded several others when they opened fire on a car and a bus near the Israeli settlement of Kedumim.
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