Hamas says ten hostages will be freed today in return for 30 Palestinian prisoners – but there is no sign ten-month-old Israeli Kfir Bibas will be among them

• The Palestinian group is to release another set of hostages under extended truce

A source close to Hamas said 10 Israeli hostages held in Gaza were to be released on Tuesday in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners under an extended truce deal.

‘Lists of the 10 Israeli hostages and 30 Palestinian prisoners for the fifth day of the truce were exchanged without objections,’ the source told AFP. 

‘Some foreign workers held in Gaza will also be released.’

It comes after Israel said Hamas had returned 11 more hostages from the Gaza Strip on Monday, bringing to 69 the total of Israeli and foreign hostages the Palestinian group has freed since Friday under the truce.

The White House and Qatari negotiators confirmed on Monday the original four day pause in fighting had been extended for two more days, while the Israeli prime minister’s office said the government approved the addition of 50 female prisoners to its list of Palestinians for potential release if additional Israeli hostages are freed.

But hopes that Hamas could eventually return all hostages to Israel without issue were dashed last night when it emerged that as many as 40 people taken during the ruthless October 7 attacks – including ten-month-old Kfir Bibas – are no longer under the captivity of the Palestinian group.

IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee yesterday declared Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel and mother Shiri had been taken to Khan Younis in southern Gaza and handed to elements of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) – a jihadist group that seeks to destroy Israel and has historically rejected any diplomatic engagement with Tel-Aviv. 

Hamas hands over 11 Israeli hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City, Gaza on November 27, 2023 

Hopes that Hamas could eventually return all hostages to Israel without issue were dashed last night when it emerged that as many as 40 people taken during the ruthless October 7 attacks – including ten-month-old Kfir Bibas – are no longer under the captivity of the Palestinian group 

Hamas officials acknowledged that several of the hostages were now in PIJ custody, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who led the effort to broker the ceasefire, said they ‘may never be able to reach them’. 

And in yet another layer of complexity, some Israelis are feared to have been scooped up by civilian gangs who capitalised on the chaos of October 7 to seize hostages of their own. 

The Qatari Prime Minister said yesterday that Hamas must locate the remaining hostages whom he said were being held by ‘civilians and gangs’.

Hamas on Monday said it had sought to revise terms under which it would free hostages beyond the women and children it has already released.

‘We hope the Occupation (Israel) abides (by the agreement) in the next two days because we are seeking a new agreement, besides women and children, whereby other categories that we have that we can swap,’ Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya told Al Jazeera late on Monday.

That, he said, would entail ‘going towards an additional time period to continue swapping people at this stage’.

Among hostages Hamas still holds are fathers and husbands of those it has freed in recent days.

Israel previously said it would extend the truce by one day for every 10 more hostages released, providing some respite from the war.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains resolute in his intentions to crush Hamas, declaring his forces would resume its offensive ‘with all of our might’ once the truce expires.

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