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A chair is left in front of posters with pictures of hostages, who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Image: Reuters)
One of the officials says the shift was due to assessments that some of the 40 hostages whose release Israel was demanding have died in Hamas captivity
Israel has dropped its demand that Hamas free 40 living hostages as part of a truce agreement and will now accept the release of 33 hostages, The New York Times reported on Monday, citing three Israeli officials.
This comes as US State Secretary Antony Blinken urged Hamas to swiftly accept an Israeli proposal for a truce in the Gaza war and the release of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant group.
One of the officials says the shift was due to assessments that some of the 40 hostages whose release Israel was demanding have died in Hamas captivity, The Times Of Israel reported. The numbers relate to hostages in a so-called “humanitarian” designation — women, children, men over 50, and those who are sick, the report added.
READ MORE: Blinken Hopes Hamas Will Accept ‘Generous Gaza’ Deal
Hamas negotiators were expected to meet Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Monday to deliver a response to the phased truce proposal that Israel presented at the weekend. “Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel,” Blinken said at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
“The only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas. They have to decide and they have to decide quickly,” he said. “I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision.” Earlier, it was reported that Israel’s proposal to Hamas entailed a deal for the release of fewer than 40 of the roughly 130 hostages believed to be still held in Gaza in exchange for freeing Palestinians jailed in Israel.
A second phase of a truce would consist of a “period of sustained calm” – Israel’s compromise response to a Hamas demand for a permanent ceasefire. A total of 253 hostages were seized in a Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which about 1,200 Israelis were also killed, according to Israeli counts. Israel retaliated by imposing a total siege on Gaza and mounting an air and ground assault that has killed about 34,500 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
(With agency inputs)
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