Only a handful of hostages have been released so far since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The United States, Israel and Hamas — with Qatar playing a significant mediating role — have been engaged in talks for weeks to free the hostages from Gaza.
The parties are working toward a deal that would entail a sustained, days-long pause in fighting in exchange for a large group of hostages being freed, a senior US official familiar with the talks told CNN on Friday.
But various factors are complicating negotiation efforts: One of the complications in the ongoing talks has been verifying the list of names of both hostages and Palestinian prisoners that Hamas and Israel would respectively release as part of the deal, two officials told CNN. Israel wants to make sure none of the prisoners released are connected to Hamas and the country has been scrutinizing names proposed as part of the process.
Another factor that had slowed talks was a lack of information about the hostages Hamas is holding. Because other groups in Gaza, like Islamic Jihad, are believed to have taken hostages, it wasn’t clear to negotiators who exactly Hamas would be able to release as part of a deal.
Throughout the process, the ongoing fighting and logistical problems have slowed down the negotiations, including communication blackouts in Gaza that prevented Hamas leaders on the strip from talking to their political leaders in Qatar.
The complicated indirect diplomacy, involving mediators from Qatar, has meant it could at times take hours and even days for messages to be exchanged among all the parties.
The indirect style of negotiating is cumbersome, one US official acknowledged, but necessary.