Hamas to Release 10 Hostages Amid Ceasefire Talks

Hamas said it would release 10 hostages held in the Gaza Strip as a gesture toward securing a ceasefire deal, following a four-day visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington this week, focused on ending the 21-month conflict, NBC News reported Thursday. 

On Wednesday, Hamas said it would release the hostages as part of its “commitment to the success” of ongoing negotiations but did not provide a timeline. The latest Israeli data estimates that 50 hostages remain in the Palestinian enclave, with 28 presumed dead. 

The announcement came as Netanyahu met with US President Donald Trump, with the two leaders discussing the war in Gaza, the hostages, and Iran. 

The US proposal under discussion outlines a phased ceasefire beginning with a 60-day truce and includes Hamas’ disarmament and Israeli military withdrawals. 

On Wednesday, Trump said there was a “very good chance” of a deal within one to two weeks – a view echoed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US envoy Steve Witkoff, who expressed optimism that talks would move forward. 

However, top Israeli officials struck a more cautious tone, calling the chances of a permanent ceasefire “questionable,” according to a high-level government briefing shared with Sky News. 

Officials told the British news outlet that any long-term agreement would require Hamas to fully disarm – a condition the group has rejected unless Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza. 

According to Israeli sources, a major sticking point is the Israeli insistence on the presence of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire.  

A recent Israeli map outlining IDF deployment zones was rejected by both Hamas and Witkoff, who reportedly described it as “like a Smotrich plan” – referring to far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, known for his desire to annex Gaza. 

Meanwhile, Netanyahu dismissed the prospect of a two-state solution as unlikely “for the foreseeable future,” citing what he called ongoing Palestinian efforts to destroy Israel. 

However, Israeli officials said Netanyahu has no territorial ambitions in Gaza. The briefing also addressed the controversial issue of relocating Gaza’s population, with officials saying that Netanyahu believes 60 percent of Palestinians would “choose to leave,” but that Israel would allow them to return once Hamas had been eliminated. 

“It’s not forcible eviction, it’s not permanent eviction,” a senior Israeli official told Sky News.

The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas and its allies launched a surprise attack in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 others. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has triggered a humanitarian crisis and killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. 

Amid efforts to broker a permanent ceasefire, the Trump administration on Wednesday sanctioned Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, over her calls to prosecute Israeli and US officials for alleged war crimes, the Associated Press added. 

US officials condemned Albanese’s actions as “illegitimate and shameful,” while human rights groups denounced the sanctions as a “shameless effort to silence a UN expert.”