Mossad chief David Barnea flew to Doha on Sunday to try to move towards a “ceasefire for hostages” deal in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. . To this end, he must meet with CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, officials will discuss “various possibilities for resuming negotiations for the release of hostages held by Hamas, based on recent developments in the situation.”
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by the Israeli army earlier this month – a death that Israeli and Western leaders say could represent an “opportunity” to move toward finalizing a deal that would guarantee the return of some hostages held within the coastal enclave, if not all.
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Hamas will not be involved in this series of meetings, an Israeli official told Times of Israelbut he will be able to join potential future talks, with mediators shuttling between representatives of the terrorist group and those of the Jewish state.
Qatar hosts a number of top Hamas leaders on its territory.
Israel is exploring the possibility of finalizing a small deal that would restart negotiations with Hamas for a broader agreement, the official said, and is seeking to understand how the decision-making process will unfold. within the terrorist group after Sinwar’s death.
Top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, during a conference in Gaza City, November 4, 2019. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said during a press conference in Cairo on Sunday that his country had offered a 48-hour ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for four Israeli hostages – a release which would also be accompanied by the release of Palestinian prisoners incarcerated within the Jewish State for endangering national security.
The proposal submitted by Egypt – which would include ten days of negotiations after the release of the four captives held in Hamas jails – was presented last week to the National Security Cabinet by Shin Bet boss Ronen Bar, news channel N12 reported. While the majority of ministers and heads of security services present supported the idea, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir opposed it, the channel reported.
Netanyahu ultimately decided not to put the proposal to a vote due to the two days of ceasefire that would be required before the hostages would be released, the N12 report noted, and he sent Barnea back to Egypt to try to renegotiate the agreement, with the aim of improving its clauses.
According to Al Arabiya, Hamas will be keen to accept the Egyptian proposal as long as it remains incorporated into the demands it submitted on July 2 regarding the conclusion of a potential hostage deal. The group also wants guarantees that Israel will agree to consider the Egyptian proposal as a phase within a more global agreement.
Hamas will present to intermediary countries, for its part, a more general agreement calling for an immediate end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, as well as the release of a certain number of detainees Palestinians in exchange for the release of all Israeli hostages at once, Hamas officials told the Saudi channel Asharq News.
The offer was to be presented following talks in Doha on Sunday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at a memorial for Israeli army soldiers killed on October 7, 2023 and in the subsequent war, October 27, 2024. (Screenshot/GPO )
The unidentified Hamas source told Asharq that “we will listen to the offers made by the negotiators but for our part we prefer a general agreement whose provisions will be implemented in a single phase and which will end the war once.” once and for all, with an exchange of prisoners which will allow all Israeli captives to regain their freedom with, in return, the release of an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israeli jails.
On Sunday, Barnea attended the national ceremony organized to pay tribute to Israeli soldiers who fell on the field of honor since the pogrom committed by Hamas on October 7 last year.
In Egypt last week, according to the Wall Street JournalBarnea had offered Hamas leaders the possibility of being able to leave Gaza safely if they agreed to lay down their arms and release the 101 hostages currently in the hands of the terrorist group.
Hundreds of Palestinians wait to buy bread at the region’s only bakery due to closed border crossings and limited access to aid in Deir Al Balah, Gaza, October 25, 2024. (Credit : Ashraf Amra / Anadolu)
A proposal that was “promptly” rejected by Hamas – Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s deputy head for Gaza, saying the offer showed that Israel did not understand the terrorist group and that the Jewish state, in doing so, took the risk of prolonging the war by several months, even several years.
Although Egypt will not send a delegation to these talks, Cairo has been closely involved in efforts to restart the negotiation process between the two sides. In addition to a meeting with Barnea, the country received a delegation from Hamas last week to discuss the terrorist organization’s expectations in the context of a potential agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also welcomed on Thursday Egypt’s desire to reach an agreement on the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, after discussions in Cairo between Egyptian officials and a Hamas delegation.
Following these meetings in Cairo, Netanyahu then ordered the head of Israeli foreign intelligence, Barnea, to go to Doha to discuss a “series of initiatives” with a view to resuming negotiations on the release of the hostages, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
The meeting between Barnea and the new head of Egyptian intelligence, Hassan Rashad, was productive, Ynet noted, and the two men spoke about a new proposed agreement as well as the importance of maintaining and strengthening security cooperation.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani gives a press conference with his Turkish counterpart in Doha on April 17, 2024 (Karim Jaafar/AFP)
The discussion between Rashad and Barnea followed a meeting between Egypt’s top official and Shin Bet number one Ronen Bar early last week.
Before Sinwar’s death, Israel and Hamas disagreed in their indirect negotiations on a number of issues: whether a ceasefire would mean an end to the war; on the number and identity of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners expected to be released; on the Jewish state retaining control of the border between Gaza and Egypt; on the possible green light given by Jerusalem to the return of residents to northern Gaza, etc.
97 of the 251 hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 are still believed to be in Gaza – including the bodies of at least 34 captives whose deaths have been confirmed by the Israeli army. Hamas also holds two Israeli civilians who entered the coastal enclave of their own accord in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two Israeli army soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Senior Israeli officials solemnly pledged during Sunday’s state ceremony that they will do their utmost to repatriate the hostages.
Netanyahu said the return of captives, both living and deceased, was “a sacred mission.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaking at a memorial for Israeli army soldiers killed on October 7, 2023 and during the war that followed, October 27, 2024. (Screenshot /GPO)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stressed the fact that military force alone could not achieve all the objectives of the war.
“Repatriating the hostages, bringing them home, requires painful compromises,” he commented. “We must accept these compromises for the hostages, for the families, for the soldiers who fell on the front to allow the repatriation of the captives, in the name of the tradition of the army and in the name of Jewish and Israeli ethics.”
President Isaac Herzog, for his part, called for seizing the opportunity offered by Sinwar’s death and bringing back the hostages held in the Gaza Strip, saying this was “the supreme task” that must be undertaken. imperatively tackle the country.
On Friday, the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds published three documents handwritten by Sinwar – documents in which the terrorist leader gave instructions to those responsible for guarding the hostages. The newspaper did not specify the origin of these documents.
People walk past newly painted graffiti depicting Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, days after he was killed by Israeli troops in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, October 20, 2024. (Oded Balilty/AP)
The first document emphasized the obligation to “take care of the lives of the enemy’s prisoners and keep them safe, as they constitute an important bargaining chip in our hands” when negotiating the surrender release of Palestinian detainees imprisoned in Israel for endangering national security. It included verses from the Quran on this subject, according to Al-Quds.
The second document contained data on 112 unidentified hostages held captive in three areas: Gaza City (14), the center of the strip (25) and Rafah (51). A fourth group of 22 hostages was listed there without precise location.
The hostages, in each sector, were divided into different categories, according to their age (over or under 60 years old, or young), according to their gender and according to their status as soldiers or civilians.
The document also indicated that a Bedouin hostage was being held in Gaza City and four others in Rafah, including a 55-year-old man (probably Youssef Ziyadne and his three children, two of whom were freed during a ceasefire which took place at the end of November).
The third document included a list of eleven female hostages who had been released early in the war – the majority of them during the week-long November truce. The eleven hostages were listed with their name, age and possible dual nationality.
