Israel has said it has informed the families of 31 people held in the territory since 7 October that their relatives are dead. The news came as the Qatari prime minister said Hamas had given a “generally positive” response to proposals for a deal trading a break in the fighting and release of Palestinian prisoners for the return of more hostages.

The number of the dead equates to more than a fifth of the remaining 136 hostages being held by in Gaza, according to available intelligence collated by the Israeli military, and comes amid pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over its handling of the hostage crisis.

The news that 31 hostages have died first emerged from a confidential internal Israeli review leaked to the New York Times. The fate of a further 20 people is also in question amid unconfirmed intelligence that they may also have died during their captivity, the report said.

The figure of 31 was later confirmed by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which represents families of the captives. “According to the official data we have, there are 31 victims,” it said in a statement.

The disclosure that so many of the remaining hostages are dead – a higher number than previously disclosed – seems certain to intensify scrutiny of the Netanyahu government’s handling of the crisis, which has provoked fury among many hostage families.