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Is Israel more open to new Hamas truce in mediator talks? Egypt says…
Israel-Hamas War: The comments came as it was reported that the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatari prime minister.
Israeli officials appear more willing in talks with mediators to strike a fresh deal for a ceasefire and release of Palestinian prisoners for the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, two Egyptian security sources told news agency Reuters. The comments came as Axios reported that the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe as Tel Aviv aims to revive the talks.
“The Egyptian sources said Israeli officials appeared to have changed their mind on some points that they had previously refused, but did not go into further detail,” Reuters reported.
The meeting in Europe was the first between senior officials from Israel and Qatar since the collapse of a seven-day ceasefire in late November. Qatar has been negotiating between the sides earlier as well. The Wall Street Journal reported that Qatar's prime minister would meet Mossad's Barnea in Norway's capital Oslo while major obstacles impede resumption of negotiations on a new hostage deal. These include disagreements over the possible terms within Hamas, that report added. Earlier, a Hamas official said that if there was a drive to resume hostage negotiations, there was nothing new to report.
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What happened in the earlier truce?
During the week-long truce in late November, Hamas released more than 100 women, children and foreigners it was holding in Gaza. The militant group released 240 women and teenagers that were held by Hamas since October 7.
Mistaken killing of three Israeli hostages
Three Israeli hostages were mistakenly shot by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip. An initial enquiry by Tel Aviv pointed out that the three had been waving a white flag and were shirtless when they were killed. An Israeli military official said it was likely that the hostages had been abandoned by Hamas or had escaped. The soldiers’ behavior was “against our rules of engagement,” the official said.
