Mossad Director heads to Qatar for negotiations

The office of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced this evening (Thursday) that it approved an Israeli delegation headed by Mossad Director Dedi Barnea to leave tomorrow to meet with CIA Director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abd Al Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel in order to advance the release of the hostages.

According to the statement, the meeting of senior officials will be held in the framework of the negotiations in Doha, the goal of which is to advance the efforts to return the hostages. The current visit will be Barnea’s second in the last week, after the delegation arrived in Doha for talks last Monday.

Three days ago, Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majd al-Ansari addressed the talks between Israel and Hamas regarding a hostage deal, saying “there is cautious optimism regarding negotiations but it’s still too early to talk of an agreement or breakthrough, and to determine the degree of success of the talks.”

He also argued that “An offensive in Rafah cannot be justified through negotiations. We cannot say that we are on the verge of an agreement, but we can announce some success. Negotiations will continue in Doha, with the role of Qatar and Egypt focused on a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.”