With no hostage deal in sight, Mossad chief heads to Qatar for continued talks

Israeli Mossad Director David Barnea will travel to Qatar on Sunday evening to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed al-Thani and an Egyptian delegation in an attempt to make progress in the hostage release deal, including a ceasefire. 

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Hamas’ recent proposal “unrealistic,” he said the cabinet will still meet to discuss the proposal and to set policy for the discussions. 

British news site, The Guardian, reported that leaders of the Hamas terrorist organization have abandoned several key demands, such as a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. 

However, Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, reported on Saturday that Hamas is still demanding IDF withdrawal from certain areas of Gaza and a return of Gaza evacuees in Rafah to the northern Gaza Strip. 

Al-Akhbar did note that Hamas has reduced its demands in the hostage-prisoner swap to 50 prisoners per Israeli soldier, down from a previous demand of 100. However, the organization is still demanding the release of prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails for terror attacks. 

According to Al-Akhbar, Hamas has not given up its demand for a permanent ceasefire, claiming that the terror group will not release any male IDF soldiers without an agreement for a permanent ceasefire. 

According to reports in the Qatari newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, Egypt’s General Intelligence agency has discussed several alternatives to clauses in the recent Hamas proposal ahead of the next round of negotiations. 

Meanwhile, the Israeli War Cabinet will meet on Sunday evening to discuss the Hamas proposal, followed by a discussion in the larger cabinet. The meeting will determine the official Israeli position in the talks. 

The cabinet was scheduled to convene on Friday afternoon, however, the meeting was postponed due to the approach of Shabbat, when the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox members of the cabinet would not be able to attend. 

According to reports in Israeli media, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held a special meeting with senior officials in the IDF, Mossad, Shin Bet, and representatives of the hostage negotiation delegation to discuss the proposal. 

The recent approval of the plans for the IDF's ground incursion into Rafah is believed by many analysts to be a means for exerting more pressure on Hamas ahead of the next round of discussions. 

White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby recently said the Hamas proposal was “within the bounds of the deal that we’ve been working on for several months.”