Negotiators push Hamas to identify hostages to be released if truce is agreed

Egyptian and Qatari officials are putting pressure on Hamas negotiators in Cairo to produce a list of hostages to be released as the first step in a phased ceasefire agreement with Israel, according to officials familiar with the talks.

- Julian Borger, Bethan McKernan

Israel has not sent a delegation to the second day of talks in Cairo, demanding that Hamas presents a list of 40 elderly, sick and female hostages who would be the first to be released as part of a truce initially lasting six weeks, starting with the month of Ramadan, the officials said.

Hamas is demanding that large-scale humanitarian aid should be allowed into Gaza and that Palestinians displaced from their homes in the north of the coastal strip should be allowed to return.

US officials have said that Israel has "more or less" accepted the six-week ceasefire deal, but did not make clear whether that provisional acceptance included Israeli readiness to meet those Hamas demands.

Diplomatic sources in Washington said it was unclear what was stopping Hamas from producing a list identifying the first 40 hostages.