Hamas says ready to free all remaining hostages in one swap in phase two of Gaza truce

A woman stands near placards bearing pictures of Israelis held captive by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attacks. Photo / AFP

• Hamas is ready to release all remaining hostages in a single swap during the second phase of the Gaza truce.
• Taher al-Nunu stated the release would be in one batch, not in stages.
• Nineteen Israeli hostages have been exchanged for more than 1100 Palestinian prisoners since January 19.

A senior Hamas official told AFP today NZT that the Palestinian militant group was prepared to release all remaining hostages in a single swap during the second phase of the Gaza truce.

“We have informed the mediators that Hamas is ready to release all hostages in one batch during the second phase of the agreement, rather than in stages, as in the current first phase,” said Taher al-Nunu.

Nunu did not clarify how many hostages were currently held by Hamas or other militant groups.

Israel and Hamas are currently in the process of implementing the first phase of the truce, which began on January 19.

Since then, 19 Israeli hostages have been released by militants in exchange for more than 1100 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails.

After the completion of the first phase, 58 hostages will remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

-Agence France-Presse