A hostage negotiator has described what Hamas was likely looking for when it captured hundreds of Israelis in its 7 October dawn raids – and what could happen next.

Scott Walker, who has been involved in over 300 kidnap for ransom negotiations, told Sky News there would have been “some randomness” over who militants could get gold of.

They would have looked for hostages with “higher bargaining power”, he said, such as children, women, the elderly and soldiers.

However, some planning would likely have gone into the operation in terms of looking after the hostages, said Mr Walker.

He called the release of American hostages Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie Raanan at the weekend “significant progress”.

“It demonstrates that there are lines of communication open, that trust has been established between negotiators. Above all it demonstrates that they can release the hostages safely.”

Mr Walker said he could see a “drip, drip” effect of more hostages being released, but said it’s unlikely Hamas will release its captives en-masse as it would give Israel an “open goal”.

Asked how long negotiations could continue for, he said: “It could be days, weeks, months – for some of them, maybe even years, as we’ve seen in the past with some of the Israeli hostages.”