The Israeli Minister of Defense confirmed on Saturday January 4 the announcement made by Hamas the day before. The two parties resumed negotiations from Doha, so 96 hostages are still held.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Saturday the resumption of indirect negotiations with Hamas in Qatar for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the attack by the Palestinian movement in Israel on October 7, 2023.
The minister informed the parents of hostage Liri Albag, whose living video was released by Hamas on Saturday, “ongoing efforts to free the hostages, including the Israeli delegation that left yesterday (Friday, editor’s note) pour talks in Qatar”, his office said in a statement. He added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had given “precise directives for the continuation of the negotiations”.
“Efforts continue”
Hamas announced Friday that negotiations were resuming in Doha with a view to obtaining a truce in the Gaza Strip, specifying that they would relate in particular to a “complete cessation of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, where the cold and incessant bombings continue to sow death.
Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke with the parents of Liri Albag, a 19-year-old woman kidnapped while she was doing her military service at the Nahal Oz base, in southern Israel. “The Prime Minister promised (the family) that Israel continues to act tirelessly for the return home of Liri and all the hostages, and that efforts continue, including at this time,” his office emphasized in a press release.
Negotiations took place in December in Doha, supported by the intense diplomatic efforts of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, but no truce could be concluded, with both Hamas and Israel accusing each other of stopping these efforts. Since the start of the war, only one one-week truce has been observed, in November 2023, during which 105 hostages were released, as well as 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
During the October 7 attack, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians according to a count based on official figures, 251 people were kidnapped. A total of 96 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the army.
Source: www.liberation.fr
