Egypt Daily News – A Hamas official told AFP on Wednesday that the movement is ready to release all remaining Israeli hostages in one batch during the second phase of the truce in the Gaza Strip.
Tahir Al-Nono, the media advisor to the head of Hamas, stated that Hamas “has informed mediators of its readiness, as part of an agreement, to release all hostages in the second phase at once, rather than in batches as was the case in the first phase in exchange for the release of all Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the occupation’s prisons.”
Al-Nono added that Hamas “has shown mediators its readiness for a single exchange process for all prisoners, releasing all Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the resistance, both living and deceased, including high-ranking military officers.”
On Tuesday, Israel and Hamas announced an agreement to release six Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip next Saturday, after Israel retrieves the bodies of four hostages on Thursday.
Following Hamas’s announcement that among the four bodies are the last two children held in Gaza, the family of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, along with their mother Shiri, who was abducted with them, reported that they have not received any “official confirmation” regarding their deaths.
He explained that this step is “to confirm our seriousness and full readiness to move forward in resolving this issue, as well as to proceed with steps to solidify the ceasefire and reach a sustainable cessation of hostilities.”
