JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday sent his intelligence chief to Qatar for talks with mediators on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that could lead to the release of hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attacks, sources said.
Amid renewed optimism about a possible breakthrough, Netanyahu called a meeting of his security cabinet late Thursday to discuss new Hamas proposals channeled through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, reports said.
Israel believes dozens of hostages are still alive in Gaza. Both sides are facing mounting international pressure for a deal as the death toll from the war in the devastated Palestinian territory rises.
Mossad chief David Barnea was to lead an Israeli delegation to Qatar that has been trying to bring its foes to the negotiating table for months, according to a source familiar with the talks. He was expected in Doha on Friday to meet with the Gulf state’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Barnea’s delegation “goes to Qatar as part of continuing talks on a ceasefire and hostage agreement.
“He will meet with the Qatari prime minister for talks aimed at bringing the parties closer to an agreement on Gaza,” said the source, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the talks.
US President Joe Biden praised the decision to send a delegation for a phone call with Netanyahu, the White House said. Biden welcomed the decision to “engage” Israeli negotiators with mediators to “close the deal.”
The United States believes Israel and Hamas have a “pretty significant chance” of reaching a ceasefire agreement and releasing hostages, a senior US official said.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the Hamas proposal “accelerates the process and could provide a basis for finalizing the deal,” but stressed that it did not mean an agreement was likely in the coming days and that “significant work” remained.
Hamas has demanded an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops as a prerequisite to a possible hostage settlement.
Israel has responded that there can be no end to the war without the release of the hostages. Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed that the Gaza campaign will not end until Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities are destroyed.
Hamas said Wednesday evening that it had submitted new “ideas” for a potential deal, and Netanyahu’s office said the government was “evaluating” them.
Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been mediating between the two sides, with sources close to their efforts saying efforts to heal the “rift” between the foes have been underway for several weeks.
Biden announced a path to a ceasefire agreement in May that he said was offered by Israel. It included a six-week truce that would allow for talks, the release of hostages and, ultimately, a program to rebuild devastated Gaza.
“There are important changes in the latest proposals that have positive options for both sides,” said a diplomat briefed on the latest proposals. “This time, the Americans are taking it very seriously.”
The war began with an Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli data.
Hamas fighters also took 251 hostages, of whom 116 are still in the Gaza Strip, including 42 who the army says are dead.
According to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, at least 38,011 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive.