Intelligence from Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency suggests only 40 out of the 133 hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip are still alive, the Daily Mail reported on Sunday.
"[Intelligence] is much easier to access than before October 7 when we had limited access to Gaza and we didn't have a lot of possibilities of sources. The situation is completely different because we are there," an unnamed source told the Mail.
The Shin Bet denied the report, calling it "incorrect" and saying that it "does not reflect the views of the Shin Bet." "The numbers presented in the report are solely the author's opinion and are not based on information provided by the Shin Bet," the agency said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the War Cabinet is set to convene Sunday night for the first time in 12 days to discuss the current impasse in hostage talks with Hamas. The terror group is currently demanding a six-week truce in exchange for the release of less than 20 hostages, according to its response handed to mediators last week which coincided with the beginning of the unprecedented Iranian attack on Israel.
2 View gallery
War Cabinet discussion over Iranian attack
(Photo: AFP / Israeli Prime Minister's Office)
The meeting was rescheduled for last Thursday at the request of Ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot but was again postponed due to a strike on an air base in Iran's Isfahan Friday. Gantz and Eizenkot have called for a War Cabinet meeting to explore additional solutions for the hostage deal deadlock.
A senior official conceded that while hostage talks have made little progress lately, Israel is expecting Washington to pressure the Qatari mediators, and is exploring different avenues to break the impasse.
Qatar said last week it was "reconsidering" its mediating role in hostage talks due to the attacks against them by Israeli politicians. The Usaid that Doha is "an irreplaceable player" in negotiations.