Hamas leader says not all the Israeli hostages are being held by his group

A leader of Hamas says that not all of the Israeli hostages that were taken to the Gaza Strip are being held by the group, a claim that will most likely complicate negotiations for their release.

Osama Hamdan, a member of Hamas’ political bureau in Lebanon, said in an interview Thursday that no one within the group “knows the exact numbers” of Israelis being held in Gaza.

He said other groups are also holding some of the hostages, though he only specified Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a separate organization that is an ally of Hamas, the group that controls Gaza and staged the attack on Israel earlier this month.

The Israeli military has said that 203 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, are being held by Hamas. The hostages were taken October 7, when hundreds of Palestinian gunmen from Gaza surged into towns and military bases in Israel. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed.

A spokesperson for Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Musab Al-Breim, said in an interview that the group has around “30 prisoners” but would not share the exact number.

That other groups besides Hamas are holding hostages could complicate efforts to secure their release, officials with knowledge of the hostage talks said.

One diplomat with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, said Hamas did not expect to take so many civilians captive.

The diplomat said that the Palestinian gunmen who carried out the attacks, which included some from the more ideologically extreme group Islamic Jihad, were surprised at how deep they were able to advance and the ease with which they were able to take civilians and soldiers hostage.

“The success of the attack was significant,” Hamdan said. “No one expected that, and it showed the fragility of the Israeli military.”

Hamdan said Hamas was seeking a broad prisoner exchange and was requesting that Israel free women, children and hundreds of Palestinians who have been held without trial. Israel is currently detaining at least 1,100 Palestinians without trial, the most since 2003, according to HaMoked, an Israel-based human rights organization.

“Everyone knows that we have tried to free the Palestinian prisoners,” Hamdan said. He added, “This isn’t a Hamas issue, but a Palestinian one.”

A second diplomat with knowledge of the hostage talks said Hamas has requested a cease-fire to hand over the civilians it holds.

The hostages from countries other than Israel may be treated differently. Hamas’ military wing has said that “civilian prisoners with foreign nationalities are guests and will be released when field conditions allow so,” Ezzat Al-Resheq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau in Beirut, said in an interview.

“They are not part of any deal, and we have no demands in return for releasing them,” he added.

Hamas, however, intends to hold Israeli soldiers as part of a larger prisoner exchange, said the first diplomat with knowledge of the hostage situation.

A 2020 report by Save the Children estimated that up to 700 Palestinian children are detained and prosecuted by the Israeli military court system each year. Most are charged with stone throwing, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.

Hamdan said Israel’s occupation of what his group considers Palestinian territory was “the main problem from which the other problems flow.”

“The Israelis have to decide,” he said. “Do they want to continue with the occupation? Or do they want to make a change by acknowledging Palestinian rights and endorsing international resolutions?”