Gaza, Hamas: “How many hostages are still alive? Nobody knows”

(Adnkronos) – “No one has any idea” how many hostages held in Gaza are still alive. A senior Hamas official told CNN, adding that any agreement to release them must include guarantees of a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip. In an interview with the American broadcaster, the spokesman and member of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamist group, Osama Hamdan, said that the latest proposal on the table – an Israeli plan announced publicly for the first time by US President Joe Biden late last month – does not meet the group’s demands for an end to the war. Hamdan added that Hamas needs “a clear position from Israel on accepting the ceasefire, on complete withdrawal from Gaza and on letting the Palestinians determine their own future, reconstruction, ending the siege … and we are ready to talk about a fair agreement regarding the prisoner exchange.” Hamdan said the duration of the ceasefire is a key issue for Hamas, which fears that Israel has no intention of completing the second phase of the agreement. The end of hostilities must be permanent, he said, and Israel must withdraw completely from Gaza. “The Israelis only want a ceasefire for six weeks and then they want to go back to fighting. The Americans, so far, have failed to convince the Israelis to accept a permanent ceasefire,” he said further, adding that the United States United States must convince Israel to accept a permanent ceasefire as part of the agreement. However, the United States, Qatar and Egypt have agreed that the objective now is to convince Hamas to accept the original plan presented by the Biden Administration for a ceasefire, therefore without modifications. Axios writes this quoting a senior Israeli official. ”Until Hamas is brought to accept the original text, no Israeli delegation will be sent to Cairo or Doha for subsequent talks,” added the source cited by Axios. —internazionale/[email protected] (Web Info)