CNN’s record of the conditions of the hostages also suggests there are fewer than 40 living hostages who meet the proposed criteria.

With Hamas appearing to be unable to reach 40 in the proposed categories, Israel has pushed for Hamas to fill out the initial release with younger male hostages, including soldiers, the Israeli official said.

The majority of the almost 100 hostages who remain alive are believed to be male IDF soldiers or men of military reserve age. Hamas is expected to try to use to them in later phases to try to negotiate more significant concessions, including more high-level prisoners and a permanent end to the war.

I'm sorry, I'm just going to repeat the relevant part again: The majority of the almost 100 hostages who remain alive are believed to be male IDF soldiers or men of military reserve age.

The majority of the almost 100 hostages who remain alive are believed to be male IDF soldiers or men of military reserve age.

The majority of the almost 100 hostages who remain alive are believed to be male IDF soldiers or men of military reserve age.