Growing concern Hamas does not know location of dozens of hostages as it scrambles to extend truce

Hamas is scrambling to find more ­hostages to extend its truce with Israel amid growing concerns the militant group does not know the whereabouts of dozens of captives.

The Israel Defence Forces believe Hamas has access to 80 hostages and Palestinian Islamic Jihad has between 30 to 40, a source close to negotiations told The Independent.

But this leaves around 100 civilian and military hostages of an estimated 240 kidnapped on October 7 unaccounted for, according to the diplomatic source.

So far, 60 Israelis and 21 foreigners have been released by Hamas since the ceasefire began. Up to 150 Palestinians have been freed by Israel.

Qatari officials said the success of the two-day extension to the initial truce would be vital in locating missing Israeli hostages.

“Some of them are not even with the other armed factions, they are with lay people,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Dr Majed Al-Ansari said. “There is an issue with information right now. Obviously under constant bombardment, you can’t collect intelligence, you can’t collect information on the ground.

“We want to use this ceasefire to get information about where they are and if any have been killed in the process.”

The Qatari foreign ministry said yesterday another 20 hostages were set to be released in the next 48 hours.

Meanwhile, families of hostages have called for an open-ended extension to the ceasefire to allow for the release of all those held in Gaza. But some were also distrustful. “I believe the idea that Hamas doesn’t have access to all the hostages is tactics,” said Ruby Chen, whose 19-year-old son Itay, an Israeli soldier, was taken to Gaza on October 7.

“Hamas have been able to enforce a ceasefire, they do control the areas under their control, the ability to provide hostages is something they have done.”

The family of a missing 10-month-old boy also called for his “immediate release” as they feared the truce extension’s cut-off would leave him trapped without proper care. Ofri Bibas, who is the aunt of Kfir Bibas, said: “He can’t stay there any more. He is a 10-month-old baby. We don’t know if he is getting formula. There isn’t much food.

“Every day there is a risk for their mental and physical condition. They must be released. They are children; they are not supposed to be hostages.”

Baby Kfir was kidnapped along with his brother Ariel (4) and his parents Yarden (34) and Shiri (32) from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7.

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