Talks between Israeli negotiators and Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal remain deadlocked over whether a truce would be permanent or temporary and how many hostages would be freed in the first phase of a deal, officials briefed on the matter said.
Representatives from Israel and Hamas left Egypt on Thursday after the latest round of indirect talks (they do not communicate directly with each other) with no agreement in sight, the officials said. But teams from the United States, Egypt and Qatar were still holding more talks in Egypt.
Hamas continues to demand that Israel respect a permanent ceasefire and completely withdraw from Gaza as part of any truce, said Mousa Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamas’s political leadership. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has said that Israel cannot end the war as long as the Hamas government in Gaza remains intact. On Friday, Hamas declared that Israel’s rejection of a framework that Qatar and Egypt had proposed, and that Hamas had approved, had “put things back to square one.”
Abu Marzouk added that another obstacle in the talks is how many live hostages held in Gaza would be released during the first phase of a multi-stage ceasefire. His account was confirmed by an Israeli official and another official briefed on the negotiation. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations.
Palestinian armed groups still hold approximately 132 hostages in Gaza, the vast majority of them captured during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, according to Israeli authorities. But Israel says it has also determined that at least 36 of them are dead.
Israel had initially demanded that Hamas release 40 hostages in the first phase of a ceasefire, including old captives, the sick and women, both civilians and soldiers. Male Israeli soldiers, seen by Hamas as higher-value captives, would be freed in the second phase of the truce.
A recent Israeli proposal made a concession, reducing the number of live hostages Israel was demanding to 33 during the first tranche, according to officials familiar with the talks.
On Monday, Hamas told negotiators it did not have enough live hostages for the first phase of the deal and said the 33 handed over would include both live hostages and the bodies of those who had died in captivity, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity because They were not authorized to speak publicly.
But during meetings this week in Egypt (brokered in part by William J. Burns, director of the CIA), the Israeli negotiating team said Hamas must release 33 hostages alive during the first phase, said Abu Marzouk, the senior official. of Hamas, and one of the officials reported on the talks. If the group could not raise that number, Israel demanded that they also release some captive Israeli male soldiers, Abu Marzouk said.
On Friday, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said both Israel and Hamas needed to “show flexibility” in talks to “reach a truce agreement that would end the humanitarian tragedy.”
Aaron Boxerman contributed with reports.