Internal pressures drive Israel to consider returning to hostage negotiations
The director of Mossad will meet with the Qatari Foreign Minister in Europe to discuss the hostage file after Netanyahu announced the closure of negotiations and the use of force to release the captives
According to Axios, Mossad director David Barnea will meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in a European country this week to hold talks on resuming negotiations for the release of hostages held by Hamas.
The ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli army collapsed after a one-week truce, during which several Israeli and foreign hostages and Palestinian prisoners were released. Israel claims that the previous breakdown of negotiations was due to Hamas’s refusal to release the remaining women held as hostages, while Hamas insists that these women are soldiers in the Israeli Defense Forces.
The meeting between the Mossad director and the Qatari minister will be the first since the collapse of the ceasefire. Observers wonder if Israel will accede to Hamas‘s conditions, which emphasize a comprehensive ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip before engaging in any negotiations regarding the hostages.
Reports indicate that Qataris contacted Israeli officials last week to gauge Israel’s willingness to resume negotiations, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s initial refusal for the Mossad director to travel to Doha after the breakdown of negotiations. However, recent reports suggest that Netanyahu has granted the Mossad director the authority to facilitate the release of hostages and engage with the Qataris.
The shift in Israel’s government stance regarding negotiations is influenced by internal pressures, particularly from the families of the hostages. Hundreds of families of Israeli detainees in Gaza demonstrated in Tel Aviv, urging their government to strike a new deal with Palestinian factions to secure the release of their loved ones.
In light of the accidental killing of three Israeli captives in Gaza, the families called for immediate action.Netanyahu expressed mourning for the tragedy, and the families demanded a new deal with Palestinian factions for the release of the detainees.
In a separate development, dozens of Palestinians were reportedly killed in Gaza on Saturday due to Israeli airstrikes. The United States has urged Israel to narrow its military campaign and focus on targeting the leadership of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
In response to the airstrikes, Palestinian media reported that at least 14 people were killed in Gaza due to Israeli airstrikes, with many civilians trapped under the rubble. The Israeli military stated that its airstrikes targeted a building in Jabalia after its forces were fired upon, and armed Hamas members were identified on its roof. The exact nature of the targeted building, as reported by Wafa news agency, is unclear.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, accused Israel of committing clear war crimes by targeting women and children. He dismissed Israeli claims of casualties, calling them untrue and accusing the Israeli army of lying and deceiving its soldiers and people.
The conflict has resulted in a significant number of casualties, with Israel reporting around 1,200 deaths and 5,431 injuries among its population since Hamas launched its attack on settlements and military positions near the Gaza Strip on October 7. Israel holds around 7,800 Palestinian prisoners, including children and women, in its prisons.
