Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas have raised concerns over the lists of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners due to be released on Monday, the final day of an agreed four-day pause in the fighting, an official briefed on the matter said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Qatari mediators were working with Israel and Hamas to resolve the issues and avoid delays.
Hamas said it wanted to extend the truce.
Israel has previously offered to agree to an additional day for each additional 10 hostages freed, and to release three times the number of Palestinian prisoners each time.
“There is a slight issue with today’s lists. The Qataris are working with both sides to resolve it and avoid delays,” the official briefed on the matter said.
Israel said earlier it had received overnight what could be the final list of hostages slated for release.
The list was being reviewed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, adding it would provide further information when possible.
On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 people, including a 4-year-old Israeli-American girl, bringing the total number the terrorist group has released since Friday to 58.
Israel released 39 teenage Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, taking the total number of Palestinians freed since the truce began to 117.
A Palestinian official familiar with the truce talks said both Hamas and Israel had shown a positive attitude to requests to extend the four-day truce, but added that “a final decision hasn’t yet been reached”.
An Israeli official told Reuters the onus was on Hamas to produce a new list of 10 hostages it could free on Tuesday in exchange for that becoming an additional truce day.
If Israel approves the list, the truce would be extended by a day, with Israel releasing three times the number of Palestinian prisoners as the number of hostages going free.
That process would continue for a maximum of five additional days to the current truce, the official added.
If Israel approves the list, the truce would be extended by a day, with Israel releasing three times the number of Palestinian prisoners as the number of hostages going free.
Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan, speaking to Lebanon’s LBC broadcaster, said the group would try to find more hostages to release and thus prolong the truce.
Hamas has previously said it is not holding all the hostages who were brought to Gaza.
The people handed over by Hamas on Sunday included 13 Israelis, three Thais and one with Russian citizenship, and the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it had successfully transferred them from Gaza.
President Biden said he hoped the truce can go on as long as hostages are being released.
Biden said the 4-year-old hostage, Abigail Edan, had witnessed her parents being killed by Hamas terrorists during their Oct. 7 rampage into Israel and had been held since then.
“What she endured is unthinkable,” Biden said at a news conference.
Netanyahu, who spoke to Biden at the weekend, said that once the truce ends “we will return with full force to achieve our goals: The elimination of Hamas, ensuring that Gaza does not return to what it was; and of course the release of all our hostages.”