As a sign of progress in ceasefire talks over the Gaza war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Saturday that he is sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence organization to Qatar.
The timing of David Barnea’s visit to Doha, the capital of Qatar, for the most recent round of indirect negotiations between Israel and the militant Hamas group was not immediately apparent, although the United States is pressing for an agreement before the January 20 presidential inauguration. High-ranking Israeli officials who would have to approve any deal are now involved because of Barnea’s presence.
In 15 months of conflict, there has only been one temporary ceasefire, and that was during the first few weeks of hostilities. Since then, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar-mediated negotiations have stagnated several times.
A staged ceasefire is being discussed, and Netanyahu has indicated that he is only committed to the first phase, which calls for a weeks-long pause in combat in exchange for a partial release of hostages.
Netanyahu has insisted on dismantling Hamas’s capacity to fight in Gaza, despite Hamas’s demands for a complete Israeli troop pullout from the mostly destroyed region. Although it doesn’t specify how many were combatants or civilians, Gaza’s Health Ministry stated on Thursday that more than 46,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict, the majority of them were women and children.
The head of Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, as well as political and military advisors are also being dispatched to Qatar. The decision, according to Netanyahu’s office, came after a meeting with his defense minister, security commanders, and negotiators representing the current and future U.S. administrations.
Additionally, the office published a picture of Netanyahu with Steve Witkoff, President-elect Donald Trump’s new special envoy to the Middle East, who was in Qatar this week.
Families of the approximately 100 hostages who are still detained in Gaza following their capture in the Hamas attack that ignited the conflict on October 7, 2023, are putting pressure on Netanyahu to come to an agreement so they can return their loved ones. With images of the hostages on display, Israelis held another rally on Saturday night in Tel Aviv.
During the event, departing U.S. Ambassador Jack Lew stated, “We unite in the hope that the negotiations in Doha are successful.” The news today gives us hope, but we know we can’t give up.
Concerns that time is running out were rekindled by the discovery of two hostage bodies within the last week. Following months of intense combat, Hamas has stated that it is unsure of who is still alive.
In a statement, a group representing some hostage families said, “Return with an agreement that ensures the return of all hostages, down to the last one: the deceased for proper burial in their homeland and the living for rehabilitation.”
Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated this week that a deal is very close and that he hopes to finalize it before turning over diplomatic responsibilities to the new Trump administration. Over the past year, however, U.S. officials have often voiced a similar sense of hope.
Discussion topics have included the extent of any Israeli force departure from Gaza’s population centers, whose hostages would be released in the first phase of a ceasefire agreement, and which Palestinian inmates would be released.
The toll
In the attack that sparked the war, Hamas and other organizations killed over 1,200 people and captured about 250 captives in Gaza. others than 100 hostages were released during a truce in November 2023, and during the past year, others have been rescued or their bodies have been found.
Without providing specifics, Israel’s military said on Saturday that four troops had died in northern Gaza. The war has claimed the lives of at least 400 soldiers. Israel has been launching an offensive against Hamas militants who have been regrouping in northern Gaza, where six more people were murdered this week.
Without offering proof, the Israeli military claims to have killed more over 17,000 militants during the conflict.
Inside Gaza
According to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where an AP team observed them, a 5-year-old child and two male relatives were killed in an airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Saturday.
The girl’s body, dressed in a pink sweater, was laid out on the morgue floor after being covered in foil. Her father put his face on hers while kneeling. “God!” he exclaimed.
According to the Civil Defense, first responders connected to the Hamas-run government, another Israeli airstrike killed at least eight Palestinians, including two women and two children, in a school that was converted into a refuge in northern Gaza. According to the report, 30 individuals, including 19 children, were injured in the attack on the Halawa school, which provides shelter to displaced persons in the Jabaliya neighborhood.
Without providing proof, Israel’s military claimed to have hit a Hamas command center at a former Jabaliya school.
Additionally, Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal reported that four individuals were killed in a hit on a street in Gaza City. In total, the Health Ministry of Gaza reported that throughout the last 24 hours, at least 32 bodies have reached hospitals.
Do you hear us, I ask the world? Are we real? “The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced,” stated Hamza Saleh. As hunger increases and children and others compete for food handouts, he remarked on Friday in the southern city of Khan Younis.
By Natalie Melzer and WAFAA Shurufa The Associated Press
Melzer reported from Israel’s Nahariya.
