Hamas says it is holding Israeli soldiers hostage; no negotiations about their release until war in Gaza ends

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza are "soldiers and former soldiers,” a senior Hamas official said Saturday in a statement on Telegram.

“There are no ongoing negotiations regarding them until the complete cessation of the war in the Gaza Strip,” according to Saleh Al-Arouri, the Palestinian resistance group’s political bureau’s deputy chief.

Hamas has consistently expressed its readiness to release foreign hostages without demanding an exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, he said.

Al-Arouri pointed out that the group has emphasized that Israeli children and women hostages will not be mistreated and will be released.

Israel prohibited aid trucks from entering the Gaza Strip on Friday through the Rafah border crossing as it resumed its devastating attacks on the Palestinian enclave after announcing the end of a humanitarian pause that lasted one week.

At least 193 Palestinians have been killed and 652 injured since Friday in Israeli airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

The official Israeli death toll stands at 1,200.

*Writing by Mohmmad Sio