More than six months after Hamas militants attacked Israel and captured more than 250 hostages, it remains unclear exactly how many captives are still alive in Gaza, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
The uncertainty has caused anxiety among the families of those detained in Gaza and undermined international efforts to broker a ceasefire deal and free at least some of the hostages, the officials told NBC News.
A proposed ceasefire formula calls for Hamas to release 40 hostages who are women, children or sick and elderly men, and in exchange, Israel would eventually release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. But Hamas has so far been unable to confirm that it had identified 40 hostages meeting those criteria, bogging down negotiations, U.S., Israeli and Western officials said.
In November, more than 100 hostages were released as part of a four-day pause in the fighting in Gaza. Israel says more than 130 hostages remain, and about a quarter of them are believed to be dead.
There may be far fewer hostages alive than publicly known, but it is difficult to say with certainty, given limited visibility into the location and living conditions of some. hostages, U.S. officials said.
Asked if there was an accurate estimate of the number of hostages still alive, a former senior Israeli official replied: “Not at all. No one reliable has this information. This is just speculation.
U.S. officials have accused Hamas of making demands they know are impossible to achieve.
“Hamas’ refusal to accept a hostage ceasefire agreement shows its disregard for the lives of the Palestinian people,” a senior Biden administration official said Wednesday. “They started this war and seem perfectly fine with the continuation of this conflict.”
An Israeli official said: “Hamas is dragging its feet, is not interested in a deal and continues to hope for regional escalation, which is why negotiations remain stalled.”
Hamas said in a statement on Saturday that it was ready to sign a “serious and genuine” agreement, but renewed its demand for a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops.
According to Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose country mediated ceasefire talks with Egypt and the United States, the talks hit a “stone of stumbling.”
“We are going through a delicate phase with some stumbles,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday, without further details. “We are trying as much as possible to overcome this stumbling block and move forward.”
Last week, Hamas official Basem Naim said in an interview that a ceasefire was essential to identify the number of hostages.
“Part of the negotiations is to reach a ceasefire agreement in order to have enough time and security to collect definitive and more accurate data on Israelis captured, as they are in different palaces by different groups “Some of them are being killed under the rubble along with our own people, and we are negotiating to get heavy equipment for this purpose,” Naim said.
A relative of one of the many Americans suspected of being detained in Gaza said families do not know what happened to their loved ones: “For 185 days, we have received no confirmation of the life of anyone of these hostages – apart from a limited number of people. of videos initially published by Hamas terrorists.
The family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid endangering the fate of their loved one, said Israeli security showed Americans who visited Israel and met with Israeli forces Israeli security officials that they knew where most of the hostages were, but that the captives were constantly being moved.
“Every day they are here, we also know that they could die of starvation, disease, injury or murder,” the relative said.
The Biden administration is assuming that five American hostages are still alive and missing, a US official said. But Washington has better visibility into the location and conditions of some hostages than others, making it difficult to say with certainty that all five remain alive.
Beyond these five bodies, the United States believes Hamas is holding several other bodies of Americans believed to have been taken to Gaza after being killed during the militants’ attack on Israel on or shortly after October 7. .
Dozens of family members of hostages held by Hamas stormed an Israeli parliament meeting, calling on Israel to reach a deal to free their loved ones.
Israeli troops searched Gaza’s hospitals, tunnels and even cemeteries for hostages or their remains. In February, an Israeli raid in Rafah, in southern Gaza, resulted in the rescue of two hostages.
Aviva Siegel, who spent 51 days as a hostage in Gaza until her release under the November deal, said her experience in captivity was a terrifying nightmare.
“I was treated like I was nothing. I had no human rights. We were not allowed to speak. We weren’t even allowed to stand up,” Siegel told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell last week.
“They were starving us and eating in front of us. They were drinking water and we begged them to give us some. They would sometimes bring us just a little water and say it was water until tomorrow at 5 p.m. So we took a sip every two hours, each of us.”
Her husband, Keith, of North Carolina, remains captive.
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