Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to stop fire talks in Qatar as a sign of progress in talks on the war in Gaza.
Netanyahu's office announced the decision on Saturday night, local time. It was not immediately clear when David Barnea would travel to the capital of Qatar, Doha, for the last round of indirect talks between Israel and the militant group Hamas. His presence means that high-level Israeli officials who would have to sign off on any agreement are now involved.
Only one brief lull was achieved in 15 months of war, and that was in the earliest weeks of fighting. Negotiations between the United States, Egypt and Qatar have stalled again since then.
Netanyahu called for the destruction of Hamas' ability to fight in Gaza. Hamas has called for the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the largely devastated area. On Thursday, the Gaza Ministry of Health said over 46,000 Palestinians were killed in the war.
Also being sent to Qatar are the head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency and military and political advisers. Netanyahu's office said the decision came after a meeting with his defense minister, security chiefs and negotiators “on behalf of the outgoing and incoming US administrations.” “
The office also released a photo showing Netanyahu with President Donald Trump's incoming special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who was in Qatar this week.
EYAD BABA/AFP/Getty
The families of around 100 hostages who are still being held in Gaza after being caught in the October 7, 2023 militant attack that sparked the war are putting pressure on Netanyahu to reach a deal to free the hostages. to bring love home.
The recovery of two groups of hosts in the past week has renewed fears that time is running out. Hamas has said that after months of heavy fighting, it is not sure who is alive or dead.
“Return with an agreement that ensures the return of all hostages, down to the last – the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for a proper burial in their own country,” said a statement by a group representing families some hosts.
Israel and Hamas also under pressure from outgoing President Biden and Trump to reach an agreement before the January 20 inauguration.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that a deal is “very close” and he hoped to complete it before handing over diplomacy to the incoming Trump administration. But US officials have expressed the same hope several times over the past year.
Ariel Schalit / AP
Issues in the talks have included which hostages would be released in the first phase of a phased ceasefire deal, which Palestinian prisoners would be released by Israel and the extent of any Israeli troop withdrawal from population centers in Gaza.
Hamas and other groups killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages into Gaza in the attack that started the war. More than 100 hostages were freed in November 2023, and others have been rescued or their remains recovered over the past year.
On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike killed at least eight Palestinians including two children and two women in a school shelter in northern Gaza, according to the Civil Defense, the first responders linked to the a government run by Hamas. They said the strike on the Halawa school which shelters thousands of displaced people in Jabaliya district also injured 30 others, including 19 children.
The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas command center at an old school in Jabaliya, without providing evidence.
Another strike killed four people on a street in Gaza City, Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said. Gaza's Ministry of Health said at least 32 bodies had arrived at hospitals in the past 24 hours.
“I'm asking the world, can you hear us? Will we be there?” said Hamza Saleh, one of the majority of Gaza's 2.3 million residents who were displaced. He spoke on Friday in the southern city of Khan Younis as children and others struggled for food aid, while hunger is growing.
