Israel to send delegation to Qatar for Gaza cease-fire talks

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israel will send its negotiation team headed by Mossad chief David Barnea to Qatar on Sunday to discuss the possibility of resuming negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza and a prisoner-hostages exchange deal with Hamas, the Israeli prime minister’s office said on Thursday.

The delegation, led by Barnea, will meet in Doha CIA Director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

"Pursuant to the meetings that were held in Cairo, the Prime Minister has directed the Director of the Mossad to leave for Doha and advance a series of initiatives that are on the agenda, with the backing of the members of the Security Cabinet," Netanyahu's office said.

In this context, the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza issued a statement urging Netanyahu to "grant the negotiation delegation full authority to reach an agreement that would bring their sons back."

Eariler, the Qatari premier, in a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha, said his country would host a new round of negotiations aimed at ending the war in the Palestinian enclave. Blinken began his 11th tour to Middle East since last October earlier this week.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar have so far failed to yield a cease-fire in Gaza, but Washington maintains that Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week may lead to a breakthrough in talks.

Hamas, however, insists that only a complete Israeli withdrawal and a total cessation of hostilities will end the conflict that has killed more than 42,800 people since last October.

Israeli military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor, a demilitarized area along Egypt’s border with Gaza, is also a sticking point in the negotiations.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul