Eight hostages to be released from Gaza are dead

Tel Aviv, Jan 28, (dpa/GNA) – The Islamist group Hamas has said, eight of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of a ceasefire agreement with Israel are dead.

Twenty-five of them are still alive, a member of the Palestinian militant group told dpa.

An Israeli government spokesman said a list provided by Hamas with these figures was consistent with Israeli intelligence.

The six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which brought a halt to the fighting after over 15 months of war, envisages the gradual release of hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

GNA