Credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA, zmotions/Shutterstock
Hamas has given Egyptian mediators a list of Israeli hostages that are currently being held in captivity by the terror group, Saudi news channel Al Arabiya reported on Tuesday.
The update comes as the Saudi outlet reported that officials confirmed that negotiations were privately progressing and that secret communications were in the works to finalize a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, London-based Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that Hamas had presented Egyptian mediators an initial list with the names of the hostages who would be included in a possible hostage deal.
The list reportedly included the names of four American hostages, as well as hostages who are elderly or suffer from medical conditions.
Hamas also submitted a list with the names of Palestinian prisoners it would like released from Israeli prisons in exchange for the hostages, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
On Wednesday, Hamas’s representative in Lebanon, Ahmed Abdel Hadi, poured cold water on the reports, telling the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news outlet Al Mayadeen that the terror organization had neither received any ceasefire proposal nor submitted any lists.
'There was no Zionist offer'
"There was no Zionist offer during the visit of the Hamas delegation to Cairo, nor were there any new ideas for us to consider," Hadi reportedly told the Al Mayadeen.
According to the Lebanese report, Hadi said the reports that Hamas had presented lists of hostages were rumors and that American, European, and regional entities were trying to promote a positive narrative.
"They assume that the movement will succumb to the enemy's conditions," Hadi told the Lebanese outlet.
Earlier this month, two Israeli officials told Walla that Israel had given Hamas, through Egyptian mediators, an updated version of a ceasefire deal proposal that involves the release of the remaining 100 hostages.
Source: The Jerusalem Post
