Israeli negotiating team to travel to Qatar on Thursday to pursue Gaza cease-fire talks

By Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) - An Israeli negotiating team will leave for Qatar on Thursday to continue talks on a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal with Palestinian factions, according to Israeli media.

A statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he held “in-depth discussions” Sunday on efforts to reach a prisoner swap deal with Hamas.

The discussions came hours before Netanyahu will travel for Washington early Monday for talks with US officials, including President Joe Biden.

According to The Times of Israel newspaper, Netanyahu decided to allow Tel Aviv’s negotiating team to travel to Qatar on Thursday to continue the prisoner swap talks.

Israel’s Mossad Chief David Barnea will lead the negotiating team, the state-run public broadcaster KAN reported.

Egypt, Qatar and the US have been trying for months to secure a cease-fire and the release of 120 remaining hostages in Gaza.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 39,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 89,700 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.