JP says slow progress in Gaza hostage release talks

Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement on the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip and a ceasefire are progressing slowly. The Jerusalem Post reported on January 2.

"Hamas has said that it cannot contact all the hostages and it will take several days to compile a list after the cease-fire begins. However, this is a false statement. They have the opportunity to do it now, they just don't want to," an anonymous interlocutor told the newspaper.

In addition, a source familiar with the situation specified that the mediators of the talks are doing "serious and hard work" to shape the deal. According to him, there is "movement and even some flexibility of the parties" in the process, but the issue is still unresolved.

Taking prisoners: Red Cross ready to help free Gaza hostages

Hamas and Israel accuse each other of stalling negotiations

Earlier, on December 25, Hamas said that Israel has put forward new conditions for the withdrawal of troops from Gaza. It is noted that at the moment in Doha, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, negotiations on the cessation of hostilities in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners of war are underway.

At the same time, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli delegation will leave Doha, where the negotiations on the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip to hold "internal consultations."

On Dec. 23, Netanyahu said there has been "some progress" in the Gaza Strip cease-fire and hostage exchange talks. Netanyahu emphasized that the progress was due to military pressure on Hamas in Gaza and the death of Yahya Sinwar, the head of the movement's politburo.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas launched a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Israel began retaliatory strikes the same day.

The Palestinians intend to return the borders between the two countries that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, with possible land swaps. Palestine wants to establish its state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and make East Jerusalem its capital. Israel refuses these conditions.