Israel says more than a third of hostages in Gaza are dead, while US seeks ceasefire talks

Some officials have privately said the death toll could be higher.

Jerusalem:

Israel believes more than a third of the hostages remaining in Gaza are dead, government figures showed on Tuesday, as the United States seeks to speed up the release of hostages as part of a deal to end the war with Hamas.

Many of the approximately 250 people dragged into the Gaza Strip by Hamas-led Palestinian gunmen during a cross-border clash on October 7 were released following a ceasefire deal in November, while others were recovered alive or dead by Israeli troops.

According to government figures, 120 people are still hostages, 43 of whom have been declared dead by Israeli authorities based on information from a variety of sources, including intelligence, CCTV or eyewitness videos and forensic analysis.

Some officials have said privately that the death toll could be higher.

Hamas, which threatened to kill hostages in retaliation for Israeli air strikes at the start of the war, has now said that such attacks have caused the hostage deaths. Israel has not ruled out this possibility in all cases, but has said that some recovered hostage bodies showed signs of hanging.

Four more hostages were added to the Israeli death list on Monday.

US President Joe Biden on Friday made public Israel’s proposal to end the war, under which some hostages would be freed during an initial ceasefire.

But mediation efforts to finalise the deal have failed, with Israel insisting on resuming its campaign to destroy Hamas while the Palestinian Islamist group demands guarantees for an end to the war and the withdrawal of all invading forces.

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