Half of the living hostages are in areas that the IDF has attempted to evacuate recently, Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said in a statement on Friday.
"We have decided not to move these captives from those areas and to keep them under strict security measures - but their lives are in extreme danger," he said.
"If Israel is concerned for the lives of these hostages, Netanyahu must immediately enter negotiations for their release," he continued. "The Netanyahu government bears full responsibility for the lives of the hostages. If it truly cared about them, it would have honored the agreement signed in January, and most of them would likely already be home."
Living hostages
A week ago, Israel conveyed its counteroffer to the Gaza deal mediators in full coordination with the US, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement, following reports that Hamas agreed to the Egyptian proposal to release five live hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a series of consultations following the proposal received from the Gaza deal negotiators.
The five hostages would be released in exchange for renewing the ceasefire in Gaza until after Passover and beginning negotiations on a long-term ceasefire, an Israeli official told Walla.
In early March, Hamas said it was only willing to release one living hostage, Edan Alexander, and return four bodies of hostages with dual citizenship in exchange for extending the ceasefire by 50 days.