According to Israeli sources, the revised list of Israeli hostages due to be released on Thursday consists of only eight women and children. Hamas claims that the two Israeli hostages with Russian citizenship who were released Wednesday, Lena Tropanov and Irena Tati, should be counted as the ninth and tenth hostages on Thursday’s list, and not, as was announced earlier, as part of a separate gesture of goodwill to President Vladimir Putin.
The efforts to bridge Israel’s and Hamas’s positions on continuing the ceasefire and the release of the hostages continued through the night.
Hamas initially insisted on handing over five living hostages and three bodies, all of them women and children, contrary to the original deal, according to which Hamas would release ten living hostages every day.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s War Cabinet decided unanimously Wednesday night that if a list was not delivered by 7:00 AM Thursday, as per the ceasefire agreement, the fighting would resume at once. At 6:40 AM Thursday, Hamas “located” additional live hostages and submitted to Israel a standard list that includes ten living hostages who are to be released as part of the deal Thursday evening – although it’s not yet clear if the list includes the two Russian-Israeli women. With only 20 minutes remaining before the expiration of the ceasefire with Hamas, the IDF announced the extension of the ceasefire in Gaza.
“In light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework, the operational pause will continue,” the IDF said in a statement.
