Hamas terrorists suggested they may not have enough hostages still alive to make a ceasefire agreement with Israel, sparking concerns that there are more hostages dead than the public is aware of.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Hamas admitted that the terrorist group is unable to locate 40 Israeli hostages, including women and elderly, needed for its first phase of a ceasefire deal that would result in a six-week pause in its war with Israel.
In exchange, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli prisons if the deal were to happen.
Hamas reportedly told international mediators, including Qatar and Egypt, that they could release 40 hostages, but warned not all 40 hostages will be alive.
Israel has repeatedly requested Hamas to provide a list of the hostages and their conditions. However, the terrorist group argued that it needed a pause in the fighting to track and locate the remaining hostages.
They made similar arguments in November before a week-long pause following the aftermath of Hamas's failure to deliver to the hostages.
If the ceasefire agreement falls through, the war between Hamas and Israel will continue uninterrupted.
The remaining 100 hostages who are believed to be alive are reportedly male IDF soldiers or men of military reserve age. Hamas will more than likely try to use the hostages during future phases of the war as an attempt to negotiate with Israel, which would include high-level Palestine prisoners captured and a permanent end to the war.
On Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister’s office said that of the 129 hostages that are currently being held, 33 are dead.
In its initial October 7 attack, Hamas took more than 240 hostages. Over 100 of them have been released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). However, some of those hostages were dead.
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