More hostages to be released from Gaza ‘very shortly’, Trump says
By Reuters
Washington: Another 10 Israeli hostages will be released from Gaza shortly, US President Donald Trump has said, without providing additional details.
Trump’s comment came during a dinner with politicians at the White House on Friday (Saturday AEST), lauding the efforts of his special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump made his comments during a dinner with Republican senators at the White House.Credit: Bloomberg
Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since July 6, discussing a US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire.
“We got most of the hostages back. We’re going to have another 10 coming very shortly, and we hope to have that finished quickly,” Trump said.
Trump has been predicting for weeks that a ceasefire and hostage-release deal was imminent, but agreement has proven elusive.
A spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, said on Friday that the group favoured an interim truce in the war, but could revert to insisting on a full package deal if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations.
The truce proposal calls for 10 hostages held in Gaza to be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 58,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, which do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Relatives and supporters of the Gaza hostages hold a rally demanding their release in Tel Aviv last week.Credit: AP
Almost 1650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1200 killed in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies.
Visas withheld
In a separate development, the UN said on Friday that Israel had declined to renew the visa of the senior UN aid official for the occupied Palestinian territories, warning there were intensifying threats of reduced access to suffering civilians.
Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said its staff visas were recently renewed for shorter periods than usual, and access requests to Gaza had been denied to several agencies.
Kaneko said permits for Palestinian staff to enter East Jerusalem were also withheld.
“Last week, it was indicated to us that our current head of office, Jonathan Whittall, won’t have his visa extended by Israeli authorities beyond August,” Kaneko said.
“This came immediately after remarks he made at a press briefing about starving people being killed while trying to reach food.”
Israel’s mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel has previously dismissed criticism from the UN as being biased.
Israel and the US have backed a new aid initiative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to replace UN aid supplies, arguing they are being redirected to Hamas fighters – a charge Hamas denies.
However, there have been near-daily shootings near the GHF’s distribution sites, and more than 800 Palestinians have been killed seeking food since May, the UN’s human rights office says.
Reuters
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