Hamas says Gaza truce deal ‘close’, raising hopes for hostages

Palestinian Territories – Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday a truce agreement with Israel was in sight, raising hopes that dozens of people taken hostage in the October 7 attacks could be released.

There was no immediate response from Israel on the status of negotiation efforts to secure the release of the estimated 240 hostages seized during Hamas’s horrific assault.

The majority of the hostages are Israeli civilians, some of them young children and elderly people. Only a handful have been released, freed by Israeli troops or their bodies recovered.

“We are close to reaching a deal on a truce,” Haniyeh said, according to a statement sent by his office to AFP. Hamas gunmen killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during cross-border raids on October 7 — the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.

In retaliation, Israel launched a relentless bombing…