Starting today, Sunday, the Qatari capital, Doha, will witness discussions, with the participation of the Director of the US Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, and the head of the Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service (Mossad), David Barnea, to discuss the possibility of resuming negotiations on reaching a prisoner exchange deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). .
In a joint press conference Thursday in Doha, the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken – who was on a visit to the region – confirmed that negotiations on the swap deal and ceasefire will resume in Doha.
Blinken said that the ceasefire plan proposed by US President Joe Biden on May 31 is still on the table, but he also indicated a willingness to explore “new frameworks” to seek the release of detainees.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Barnea will discuss with various parties in Doha “multiple options for starting negotiations to release Hamas hostages in light of the latest developments.”
A Hamas official confirmed that a delegation from the movement discussed in Cairo with Egyptian officials proposals for a ceasefire, according to Agence France-Presse.
He stressed the movement’s readiness to stop the fighting if Israel committed to a ceasefire, withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, and the conclusion of an exchange deal.
Axios reported that the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister met with a Hamas delegation a few days ago after the martyrdom of its political bureau chief, Yahya Sinwar, and informed him that they were still adhering to their paper submitted last August, in which the movement said, “The Palestinian people cannot accept partial deals today.” “Any effort to release prisoners held by Hamas must begin with a ceasefire.”
Last August, Hamas presented several main items within the negotiating paper, and the paper included the requirement of a ceasefire and lifting the siege on Gaza as an essential part of the agreement. Hamas also called for the mutual release of prisoners, such that Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for the release of Israeli detainees, in addition to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas in Gaza, and the opening of crossings to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid.
The website indicated that Egypt and Israel are discussing reaching a short truce agreement, releasing a small number of prisoners, and providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have been mediating between Israel and Hamas in talks for months, and the negotiations stopped last August without reaching an agreement.
With American support, the ongoing Israeli genocidal war in Gaza, since October 7, 2023, has left more than 143,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.