A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, claims that no one knows how many of the 116 remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza are still alive. In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Hamdan denied having any information about the hostages’ status, saying, “No one has any idea about this.”

Hamas has refused to provide a list of living hostages and has only sporadically released signs of life for some captives, mainly for propaganda purposes.

Hamdan also rejected that the four hostages rescued by Israeli forces last weekend had been abused during their captivity. When pressed about the testimony of a doctor who treated the rescued Israelis and reported that they were beaten “almost every day” and suffered from malnutrition, Hamdan blamed Israel for any mental health issues the hostages may have.

The status of the remaining hostages is a critical issue in negotiations for a potential deal between Israel and Hamas. Israeli negotiators have demanded that living hostages be released before dead bodies, while Hamas negotiators have sought deals that would allow them to release an indeterminate number of bodies in place of living captives.

Hamdan called the proposed deal to release Israeli hostages in exchange for a ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners a “positive step,” but refused to endorse it. He insisted that Israel must accept a complete withdrawal from Gaza and allow Palestinians to determine their future.

Hamdan also denied a report that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has insisted that civilian bloodshed in Gaza is a “necessary sacrifice” that will lead to the liberation of Palestine. He called the report “fake messages” intended to incite opposition to Sinwar.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)