Mossad head travels to Qatar amid reported progress in hostage talks
Mossad chief David Barnea was scheduled to arrive in Doha on Monday for continued negotiations regarding the release of the 100 hostages still held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza after 458 days, foreign sources involved in the talks told Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster on Sunday night
David Barnea
According to the report, an Israeli executive jet with foreign registration, which previously carried out missions for the Mossad and other security agencies, took off from Qatar for the Jewish state. The private aircraft previously landed in the Gulf state from Israel on Friday.
According to Ynet, U.S. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk and other top American officials were expected to join as well.
The Israeli news outlet claimed that several points of contention remain, including how many living captives Hamas will release during the first phase of a possible hostage deal. To bring the total number of hostages to be freed in the initial phase to 24, Jerusalem is reportedly demanding that the terror group also release wounded males under the age of 50.
Hamas opposes the demand, demanding the release of more terrorists, including those with blood on their hands, from Israeli prisons in return.
The terror group is also rejecting Jerusalem’s request for a list of all living hostages. According to Hamas, it is unable to verify the hostages’ status unless Israel agrees to a truce of “at least a week,” the Ynet report said.
Israel is now reportedly considering a deal under which Hamas releases some hostages to demonstrate its commitment to an agreement, followed by a multi-day ceasefire to gather information on the remaining captives.
A Hamas source told Reuters on Sunday night that the terror group had approved a list of 34 captives presented by Jerusalem to be released in a possible deal. The anonymous terror source stressed that a deal remains contingent upon reaching an agreement on an Israel Defense Forces withdrawal and a permanent ceasefire, demands that Israel rejects.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office denied the Reuters report, stating in response that “contrary to what was claimed, Hamas has yet to provide a list of hostages.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned senior ministers for an “urgent security discussion” on Sunday, according to media reports.
The discussion included Defense Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and came amid reported progress in the negotiations to release the hostages.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich oppose the proposals being reported in recent weeks and Netanyahu has emphasized that Israeli forces will return to fighting after any ceasefire deal until Jerusalem’s war goals are achieved.
According to Israeli estimates, there are 100 hostages still in Hamas captivity in Gaza, including 96 who were abducted during the terror group’s massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 251 people were taken.
One-hundred-fifty-five hostages have been returned or rescued, and Hamas is believed to be holding 36 bodies, 34 taken on Oct. 7, and IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who were kidnapped in 2014.
JNS
The release of hostages by Hamas should not be reliant in any way on Israel’s release of Palestinian terrorists in prison. There is no equivalence. There is no relevance. The hostages are innocent victims; the Palestinian prisoners are criminals. Let the world, and the UN in particular, understand this, acknowledge this, and call strongly for the unconditional release of the hostages. Not ‘Bring them Home’, but ‘Let them Go’.