The CIA and Mossad are heading to a meeting in Europe with Qatari officials to negotiate a second prisoner-for-prisoner exchange and a truce.
The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and his Israeli counterpart are to meet with Qatari officials to negotiate a possible second deal to secure the release of captives held in Gaza and a pause in hostilities.
The CIA’s William Burns and Mossad chief David Barnea will meet Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe this weekend, sources briefed on the discussions told Tel Aviv Tribune.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has been actively working to secure the release of approximately 130 prisoners still held by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.
Any new deal between Israel and Hamas would also aim to bring about the longest cessation of hostilities since the war began in October, officials told the Washington Post, which was first to report Burns’ trip.
Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will also attend the meeting.
Top mediators are trying to narrow differences between Israel and Hamas over the length of the truce and the number of captives to be released in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel, according to Tel Aviv Tribune sources.
Qatar, alongside Egypt, has initiated negotiations to broker a truce in Gaza and guarantee the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave. In November, he helped secure a week-long pause in the fighting during which more than 100 captives were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the CIA chief “was instrumental in helping us with the ongoing hostage deal and trying to help conclude another.”
U.S. ally Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas, unleashing a torrent of air, land and sea attacks that flattened most of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 26,083 people and injuring more than 64,000, according to Palestinian health officials.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Tel Aviv on leaks to Israeli media regarding a two-month ceasefire, said serious disagreements remained over any possible deal between Israel and Hamas.
“The Israeli public does not have the full picture, as there are still many points of friction. Hamas has repeatedly said that it will not accept any agreement unless it leads to a permanent ceasefire and an end to the war,” Abdel-Hamid said of the deal. which could see an Israeli prisoner released in exchange for 100 Palestinians. detainees from the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out any political settlement that would lead to the formation of a Palestinian state and an end to the war until the eradication of Hamas.
The main “sticking point” of the ceasefire
Israel proposed a 60-day pause in fighting, during which more than 100 prisoners would be released gradually, starting with civilian women and children, the Reuters news agency reported.
This would be followed by the release of male civilians, female soldiers and the remains of captives who died after being kidnapped by Hamas, according to the source cited by Reuters.
Such a plan would contradict Hamas’s latest proposal demanding an end to the war, international guarantees that it would not restart and the release of all detainees held by Israel, including those who participated in its attack on 7 October against Israel.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said that while a permanent ceasefire was a “real sticking point,” reports from the meeting suggest there appeared to be some momentum towards reaching agreement on other issues.
“This is the first time there appears to be any hope that the two sides will reach some form of understanding since the ceasefire broke down in early December,” she added.
Dekker said Netanyahu was under intense pressure domestically to do more to bring the captives home, including pressure from their families.
“The message from the families is very simple: make a deal. Whatever it is,” she added.