The head of the Mossad, David Barnea, and the head of the CIA, William Burns, held a tripartite meeting with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani - this was reported today (Thursday) by the Reuters news agency. According to the report, the meeting in Doha dealt with the terms of a possible agreement for the release of the abductees and a cease-fire in the fighting in Gaza.
An official familiar with the negotiations told the news agency that the meeting was held in Qatar to speed up talks on a potential agreement, and to reach an agreement on the outline of the deal and how it will be implemented. It is further claimed that the parties also discussed at the meeting the possibility of bringing fuel for humanitarian needs into the Gaza Strip.
As a reminder, last night it was reported that in Egypt they increased the contacts for a humanitarian ceasefire in preparation for a prisoner exchange deal. Al Mayadeen channel belonging to Hezbollah also transmitted a similar report. News 12 reporter Ohad Hamo reported that Hamas is demanding in exchange for the release of the hostages, the entry of fuel into the Gaza Strip.
The headquarters of the struggle for the release of the abductees welcomed the contacts, but claimed that the deal must include the release of all the abductees: "We welcome the return of every abductee who is in Gaza. At the same time, the headquarters of the families for the return of the abducted and missing persons is firm in its position that any move for a ceasefire will include the release of all the abductees from Gaza."
On the other hand, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu clarified in an interview with the ABC network and again in his meeting with the heads of the authorities in Judea and Samaria that "there will be no ceasefire without the return of the abductees." The Prime Minister also added that "President Biden himself said that a ceasefire would be a victory for Hamas. Regarding humanitarian ceasefires, an hour here and an hour there, these are things we have done in the past and I guess we will test this ability in the future."
