Kathmandu, Oct 10: Hamas has released the names of 20 hostages it plans to free following its ceasefire deal with Israel, but Nepali national Bipin Joshi is not on the list.

Nepal’s Ambassador to Israel, Dhan Prasad Poudel, confirmed that Joshi’s name was not included among those set to be released. He said all 20 people expected to be freed by Monday are Israeli citizens.

The Associated Press earlier reported that Israel and Hamas reached a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement on Thursday to end their two-year-long war. In the first phase, Hamas agreed to release 50 hostages, both alive and deceased.

Joshi’s condition remains unclear since his abduction from Israel’s Kibbutz area, where he was taken captive by Hamas militants.

Ambassador Poudel said he remains in regular contact with Israeli officials and is making continuous efforts to learn about Joshi’s situation, though no concrete information has been received yet.

“We still have no information about Bipin’s condition. We hope to get updates soon,” Poudel said.

Officials at Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said efforts are underway to determine Joshi’s status but without success so far. One ministry official said any update, “whatever his condition may be,” could come at any time.

“The Israeli government has indicated that information about Bipin’s condition could arrive soon and advised the family to be prepared for any outcome,” the ministry source said.

Joshi, a student from Kanchanpur, was taken hostage on October 7 last year during a Hamas attack on Israel’s Kibbutz region that killed 10 Nepali students. The militants took Joshi with them during the assault.

He was last seen on November 17, 2023, at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, but his whereabouts have remained unknown since. The 33-second video released Wednesday evening is said to be old footage from that time, according to Ambassador Poudel.

People’s News Monitoring Service