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Hamas lists 34 hostages it may free under ceasefire
A senior Hamas official has shared with the BBC a list of 34 hostages that the Palestinian group says it is willing to release in the first stage of a potential ceasefire agreement with Israel.
It is unclear how many of those named remain alive. All but two were captured during Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
The ages of those on the list range from just one year old to 86. It also includes children who Hamas previously said had been killed in an Israeli air strike.
A number of hostages who Hamas says are sick are also on the list.
The Israeli prime minister’s office denied reports that Hamas had provided Israel with a list of hostages.
“The list of hostages published in the media was not passed on to Israel by Hamas, but was originally passed from Israel to intermediaries as early as July 2024,” it said. “To date, Israel has not received any confirmation or comment from Hamas regarding the status of the abductees on the list.”
British Israeli Emily Damari, who was shot and taken from kibbutz Kfar Azar on 7 October, is among the names on the list. The 28-year-old is one of five civilian women named alongside five female surveillance soldiers.
They include 19 year old Liti Albag, who appeared in a video posted by Hamas at the weekend, in which she was seen urging her government to make a deal.
Also on the list are two brothers – Kfir Bibas, a one-year-old approaching his second birthday, and 5-year-old Ariel – who were taken hostage along with their parents. Hamas has previously said the children were killed in an Israeli air strike.
Two Israelis held in Gaza for around a decade are also among the 34 names. They are Hisham al-Sayed, a Bedouin Arab who was seized in 2015, and Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu, who was reportedly suffering from mental health issues and was taken captive after crossing into Gaza a year earlier.
Families of hostages said in a statement that they were “deeply shaken and distressed” by the list.
“The time has come for a comprehensive agreement that will bring back all hostages – we know more than half are still alive and need immediate rehabilitation, while those who were murdered must be returned for proper burial. We have no more time to waste. A hostage ceasefire agreement must be sealed now!”
Hamas’s decision to release the names of hostages will be seen by some as an attempt to increase public pressure on the Israeli government.
Ceasefire negotiations resumed in Doha, Qatar, over the weekend, but the talks do not appear to have made significant progress yet.
A Hamas official told the Reuters news agency any agreement to return Israeli hostages would depend on a deal for Israel to withdraw from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire or end to the war. “However, until now, the occupation continues to be obstinate over an agreement over the issues of the ceasefire and withdrawal, and has made no step forward,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Israel and Hamas have consistently accused each other of obstructing progress towards a ceasefire deal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Seoul on Monday that he was “confident that a deal will get its completion at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later”, though he conceded it might happen after Joe Biden leaves office on 20 January.
About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage in the unprecedented attack, which triggered a massive Israeli military campaign in Gaza. A hundred and five of the hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in November 2023. Fifty other hostages have been released, rescued or their bodies recovered.
At least 45,805 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s health ministry says.
Reports from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry say Israeli air strikes killed more than 100 people there at the weekend.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that its air force had attacked more than 100 “terrorist” sites across the Gaza Strip over the weekend, killing dozens of Hamas fighters.
The names on the list of hostages provided by Hamas:
Romi Gonen (24); Emily Damari (28); Arbel Yehoud (29); Doron Steinbrecher (31); Ariel Bibas (5); Kfir Bibas (1); Shiri Silberman Bibas (33); Liri Albag (19); Karina Ariev (20); Agam Berger (20); Daniel Gilboa (20); Naama Levy (20); Ohad Ben-Ami (55); Gad Moshe Moses (80); Keith Shmuel Siegel (65); Offer Kaldaron (53); Eliyahu Sharabi (52); Itzhak Elgaret (69); Shlomo Mansur (86); Ohad Yahalomi (50); Yousef Yousef Alziadna (54); Oded Lifshitz (84); Tsachi Idan (50); Hisham al-Sayed (36); Yarden Bibas (35); Sagi Dekel Chen (36); Iair Horn (46); Omer Wenkert (23); Alexandre Troufanov (28); Eliya Cohen (27); Or Levy (34); Avera Mengistu (38); Tal Shoham (39); Omer Shem Tov (21).

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Oil nears $110 a barrel after gas field strike
Oil prices leapt to nearly $110 a barrel after Iranian media reported an airstrike hitting a facility on the world’s largest natural gas field.
The Brent crude oil benchmark hit $109.91 a barrel just after 14:30 GMT, more than 5% higher than Tuesday’s prices, but has since fallen slightly.
The benchmark UK gas price also jumped by 6% to 143.53p a therm before falling back below the 140p mark.
The surge followed reports Iran’s petrochemical complex on the South Pars gas field had been hit. Several hours later, Qatar reported that there was “extensive damage” at the Ras Laffan industrial site following threats from Iran.
While the price of both oil and gas spiked, they remained below highs seen earlier in the conflict.
Oil reached $116.78 a barrel on 9 March, while UK gas reached 162.55p a therm on 3 March.
Iran’s oil ministry said a fire at the petrochemical complex was under control, according to Tasnim, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran’s military warned it would take “decisive action” in response to the strike on its energy infrastructure.
“As previously warned, if the fuel, energy, gas, and economic infrastructures of our country are attacked by the American-Zionist enemy, in addition to a powerful counterattack against the enemy, we will severely strike the origin of that aggression as well,” the military said in a statement published by Tasnim.
“We consider targeting the fuel, energy, and gas infrastructures of the countries of origin legitimate and will retaliate strongly at the earliest opportunity.”
Qatar also operates facilities on the gas field, which it calls North Dome.
But the country, which produces a fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas, had halted production earlier in March in response to the conflict.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said strikes against energy infrastructure “constitutes a threat to global energy security”.
Just after 1815 GMT, the Qatari interior minister said it was responding to “a fire in the Ras Laffan area following an Iranian targeting”. Qatar’s petrol firm QatarEnergy later said there was “extensive damage” at the site.
The interior minister said just after 1900 GMT that it had “initially brought the fire in Ras Laffan under control, with no injuries reported”.
Ras Laffan was among the sites listed by Iran in a warning that it would take “decisive action” after its South Pars gas field facilities were reportedly hit by Israeli strikes.
‘Energy markets will likely remain volatile’
AJ Bell’s head of financial analysis Danni Hewson said the attack and retaliation by Iran had “helped dial up the temperature once again and put renewed upward pressure on oil prices”.
“Any solution to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz looks pretty distant at this point and until there is progress on that front, energy markets will likely remain volatile,” she added.
The White House on Wednesday responded to the rising oil price by saying it was suspending the Jones Act — a 1920 law that says only American-made ships can be used to transport goods between US ports.
US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the 60-day waiver of the rules, which are intended to boost shipbuilding, will allow “vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertiliser, and coal to flow freely” as non-American-made ships can now be used.
However, maritime groups in the US said the effect would be minimal, noting that oil prices, not shipping costs, are behind rising prices at the pump.
Experts say earlier efforts by world leaders to ease price pressures, including an unprecedented release of oil reserves, have done little to reduce oil prices.
Meanwhile, Iran has also suspended the flow of gas to Iraq to shore up domestic supplies, a senior Iraqi official told Reuters.
The vast majority of Iran’s gas supply – 94% – is used domestically, according to data from the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.
[BBC]
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Heat Index at ‘Caution Level’ in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, North-central, Southern and North-western provinces and in Monaragala, Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts
Warm Weather Advisory Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology at 3.30 p.m. on 18 March 2026, valid for 19 March 2026
The general public are cautioned that the Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, North-central, Southern and North-western provinces and in Monaragala, Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts.
The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.
ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.
Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.
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Four dead 32 injured in head on collision at Weerawila
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Three of the deceased were women. 22 of the injured were admitted to the Hambanthota Hospital while 10 others have been admitted to the Debarawewa hospital.
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