Israel says Hamas has not provided any information about the status of those 34 hostages, dampening any notion that the endorsement is a step toward a deal to stop the war.

A British woman is on a Hamas list of hostages approved for release, which has been widely criticised by families in Israel, The Telegraph has learnt.

Israel said Monday that Hamas had not yet provided the status of 34 hostages the group declared it was ready to release in the first phase of a potential exchange deal.Late on Sunday, a senior Hamas official told AFP the group had "agreed to release 34 Israeli prisoners from a list presented by Israel as part of the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal".

Negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have intensified, with Hamas demanding an end to Israel's assault in exchange for releasing hostages. The talks involve Qatari and Egyptian mediators,

Hamas has named 34 hostages, some of them believed to have died in captivity, who it says it would return to Israel in the first phase of an evolving if still elusive ceasefire in Gaza.

Palestinian militant group Hamas has approved a list of 34 hostages presented by Israel to be exchanged in a possible ceasefire deal, a group official told Reuters on Sunday.

Negotiators have made little progress towards an enduring ceasefire over a year into deadly conflict and humanitarian crisis, while another 102 Palestinians were reported killed in Israeli airstrikes

Israel pounded the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing at least 23 people according to rescuers, nearly 15 months into the war with Hamas Palestinian militants.Far from Gaza, Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah have traded accusations of violating a ceasefire that ended their war,