Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks are progressing and Hamas presented a list of hostages to mediators in Cairo, while five people were killed in the Gaza Strip on Monday as the Israeli army continued its deadly offensive on the Palestinian enclave.
Hamas announces names of first hostages to be released
Negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release are progressing and Hamas has submitted a list of hostages to mediators in Cairo, Qatari newspaper The News Arab reported on Monday.
The newspaper cited advanced talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the US, including the exchange of names for a potential deal.
Egyptian intelligence has reportedly obtained the names of hostages with medical conditions and elderly captives, as well as Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli jails.
An Israeli delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo on Monday to finalise the terms of the agreement. The report also claims that four hostages with American citizenship who do not meet the humanitarian conditions of the first phase will be included in the agreement.
Among the 100 Americans held by Hamas in Gaza are Edan Alexander, Keith Siegel, Sagi Dekel-Chen, Omer Neutra, Itay Chen, Judy Weinstein Haggai and her husband Gadi Haggai, with some reportedly dead.
Hamas confirmed that its delegation left Cairo after talks with Major General Hassan Rashad, head of Egyptian intelligence. The group has reportedly asked other Palestinian factions, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, to compile a “dossier” on the hostages they are holding, including their health status and whereabouts. However, a Hamas spokesman warned that ongoing Israeli military operations were complicating efforts to find and secure the hostages.
5 Palestinians killed as Israel continues deadly onslaught on Gaza
Five people were killed in the Gaza Strip on Monday as the Israeli army continued its deadly onslaught on the Palestinian enclave, a medical source said.
Israeli shelling killed three civilians in Jabalia in northern Gaza, the source said. One person was also killed in an Israeli strike in Khirbet Al-Adas, north of Rafah in southern Gaza, and another Palestinian was killed in a drone strike in the same town, the source said.
Eyewitnesses said Israeli troops opened fire on the tents of displaced people in the Al-Mawasi neighbourhood, west of Rafah. The Israeli military also set fire to a school sheltering displaced people in Beit Lahia to force them to leave the building, they added.
In Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike hit the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, but no casualties have been reported yet.
Israel has launched a military offensive on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 44,700 people, mostly women and children, since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7 last year.
Israeli UAV attacked a car at a Lebanese army checkpoint
An Israeli drone fired a missile at a car near a Lebanese army roadblock in the south of the country, the Lebanese army said on social media X.
“Israel attacked a car near the Saf al-Hawa army checkpoint in Bint Jbeil. One person was killed and four soldiers were wounded,” the report said.
