Report: Egypt Has Received List of First 10 Israeli Hostages to Be Released

By Yoni Weiss

A report in the Wall Street Journal Thursday cited an Egyptian official saying that Cairo has received a list of the 10 hostages held by Hamas who would be released first, amid ongoing delays in realizing a ceasefire deal.

Qatar had earlier Thursday promised an imminent update on the talks, after the deal was initially expected to take effect Thursday morning and then delayed until at least Friday. All the hostages in question will be children and women, according to the report.

According to the WSJ, snags in the negotiations were due to the fact that Israel had wanted the hostages to be handed first to the Red Cross and then transferred to Israel, while Hamas wants to give them straight to Egypt.

The report also said that Israel has demanded the Red Cross have access to the hostages still in Gaza, and Hamas has not agreed to that important clause.

According to the Journal, senior Egyptian officials said that Hamas failed to formally sign off on the mechanism for the hostages’ release, and didn’t provide Israel with a specific list of around a dozen or more to be freed first.