Daniel Lifshitz keeps running his hands through his short black hair. He's trying to stay calm because, perhaps this time, negotiators will reach a hostage deal.

"We've had a lot of roller-coasters, but now it feels like something is different," he said.

Hamas has reportedly agreed on a list of 34 names of hostages still held in Gaza — the people who would be freed should the ceasefire deal with the Israeli government currently under discussion in Qatar go ahead. The list, first published by the Saudi broadcaster Asharq, quickly reached Israeli media.

The list includes the names of Lifshitz's grandfather Oded, 84, and Arbel Yehud, 29. A portrait of Yehud beaming into the camera wearing a white dress and white hairband is printed on the sweatshirt Lifshitz wears in Tel Aviv.

Yehud is the younger sister of Lifshitz's friend Dolev, who was killed in the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2024. Nearly 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas attacks and a further 251 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

One of the first hostages to be released was Lifshitz's grandmother. Released after 17 days, pictures of the 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz standing next to a masked Hamas fighter went around the world.

Since then, she has been waiting for the other hostages to come back, he said.

In November 2023, there was a limited ceasefire that saw 105 Israeli hostages released in exchange for 150 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. No similar exchange has taken place since.

There are an estimated 100 hostages thought to still be held in Gaza. Of them, 29 were kidnapped from Nir Oz, the area........

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