Eight of the remaining hostages set to be released by Hamas in the first phase of a ceasefire agreement with Israel are dead, according to an Israeli government spokesperson.

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has handed over to mediators a list showing that 25 Israeli hostages are still alive, out of 33 scheduled for release, an official of the group told Reuters on Monday.

Eight of the 26 hostages still to be released from Gaza during the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire are dead, The Telegraph has learned.

Hamas will release more Israeli hostages this week, officials said Monday, including Agam Berger, who was not released along with four of her colleagues on Saturday.

Palestinian militant group Hamas will hand over female Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud and two other hostages before Friday, mediator Qatar said on Sunday, and Israel said it would allow residents of the northern Gaza Strip to go back home early on Monday.

Two hundred Palestinian prisoners have also been released today by Israel in the latest stage of a ceasefire deal.

Before their release, the hostages, four female soldiers, were led onto a stage in Gaza City, surrounded by masked, uniformed fighters.

Hamas has told Israel that eight of 26 Israeli hostages set to be released as part of the first phase of the ceasefire are dead, according to a Middle Eastern official briefed on the matter. New York Giants owner John Mara told GM Joe Schoen how he felt if Saquon Barkley signed in Philadelphia.

The Islamist group Hamas said Monday that eight of 33 hostages to be released from the Gaza Strip in the first phase of a ceasefire agreement with Israel are dead. Twenty-five of them are still alive,