Israel confirms deaths of 31 hostages as Hamas responds to truce proposals

Source: The Guardian

Israel confirms deaths of 31 hostages as Hamas responds to truce proposals

Qatar says Hamas ‘generally positive’ about proposals, while pressure grows on Netanyahu government over handling of crisis

Peter Beaumont and Patrick Wintour
Tue 6 Feb 2024 21.32 GMT
First published on Tue 6 Feb 2024 16.46 GMT

Israel has said it has informed the families of 31 people held in the territory since 7 October that their relatives are dead. The news came as the Qatari prime minister said Hamas had given a “generally positive” response to proposals for a deal trading a break in the fighting and release of Palestinian prisoners for the return of more hostages.

The number of the dead equates to more than a fifth of the remaining 136 hostages being held by in Gaza, according to available intelligence collated by the Israeli military, and comes amid pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over its handling of the hostage crisis.

Qatar’s Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose country is acting as a mediator between the two sides, said on Tuesday that Hamas’s response to proposals drawn up by the US and Israel and tabled more than a week ago “inspires optimism”, but he said he would not go into details.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, speaking with the Qatari PM on his fifth tour of the region since the 7 October attacks, said he would discuss Hamas’s response with Israel on Wednesday.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/06/fifth-of-remaining-hostages-in-gaza-are-dead-report-says