There was no immediate reaction from Israeli authorities, who had previously refused to provide detailed comment on the hostage negotiations, saying they were unwilling to undermine diplomacy or fuel reports of what they called “psychological warfare by Palestinian militants.
Qatar’s foreign ministry and Hamas’ political office in Doha declined to comment.
Qatar, where Hamas has a political office, led mediation between the militant group and Israeli authorities for the release of more than 240 hostages. They were captured by Hamas militants when they invaded Israel on October 7. According to Israel, 1,200 people died in the unrest.
Israel then launched a relentless bombardment of the Hamasruled Gaza Strip and began an armored invasion of the enclave late last month, killing more than 11,000 people, about 40% of them children, and burying more people under the rubble, according to Palestinian sources Officer.
Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, who is part of the war cabinet, said at a news conference on Wednesday: “Even if we are forced to end the fighting for the return of our hostages, there will be no end to the fighting and the war until we achieve something .” Our goals”.
When Gantz was asked to explain what was standing in the way of the hostage deal, he declined to elaborate.