Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Saturday evening that it had decided to send a high-level delegation to Qatar to participate in efforts to reach a “truce for hostage release” agreement with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
The team will include the head of the Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, the director of the Shin Bet internal security agency, Ronen Bar, the hostage official, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Nitzan Alon, and Netanyahu’s political adviser, Ophir Falk.
The decision came after Netanyahu made an assessment of the situation regarding the ongoing hostage talks. Joining him at the meeting were Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli security chiefs and representatives from the outgoing Joe Biden administration and the incoming Donald Trump administration. Earlier in the day, he met Steve Witkoff, Trump’s new US envoy for the Middle East, in Jerusalem.
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Hamas sources said Saturday that the deal had been finalized and was awaiting final approval from Netanyahu.
Channel 13 cited two sources involved in the negotiations as saying the move came amid “cautious overall progress” in talks with mediators in Qatar.
A senior Israeli official told the broadcaster that the Palestinian terror group has yet to provide a list of living hostages to Israel.
Families of hostages held in Gaza demonstrate outside the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv, January 8, 2025. (Zohar Bar-Yehuda via Democracy Protest Groups)
A senior Hamas source told Qatari media outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Saturday that the proposed deal had been broadly finalized, with mediators just waiting for the prime minister’s approval to announce it. .
This claim has not been confirmed by third-party sources.
The outlet also reported that under the agreement, Israel would not completely withdraw from the so-called “Philadelphi” strategic corridor, which separates Egypt from the Gaza Strip until the last day of the final phase of the agreement, after gradually withdrawing its troops during previous phases.
The source indicated that Hamas had agreed to postpone several unresolved points of contention with Israel to a later phase of the agreement, if the following steps are implemented without delay and as required.
View of the Philadelphi Corridor, the border area between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, south of Rafah, October 20, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)
The source claimed that Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators supported Hamas’ latest position in the negotiations.
The source also said the talks were “at the closest point [jusqu’à présent] of the conclusion of the agreement”, adding that Hamas and the mediators expected a response from Israel this Saturday.
Israel has previously asserted that it would not agree to any ceasefire that would require it to end the war, as the three-phase deal would ostensibly ultimately require.
The Qatari media also adds that if Israel accepts this agreement, the mediating countries will hold a press conference to announce the details, timetable and date of entry into force of the agreement.
President-elect Donald Trump speaking alongside Steve Witkoff during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, January 7, 2024. (Evan Vucci/Ap)
Witkoff met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Doha on Friday, who briefed him on the ongoing negotiations.
The information came after officials in Washington on Friday expressed cautious optimism about the chances of reaching a “hostage truce” deal before the end of President Biden’s term.
CIA Director William Burns said the ongoing negotiations in Doha were “completely serious,” while White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he thought a hostage deal was possible before Jan. 20, Trump’s inauguration day.
