CIA, Mossad heads to fulfill in Europe with Qatar officers to dealer second captives-for-prisoners alternate and truce.
The director of the US Central Intelligence Company (CIA) and his Israeli counterpart are to fulfill with Qatari officers to dealer a possible second deal to safe the discharge of captives being held in Gaza and a pause in hostilities.
The CIA’s William Burns and Mossad chief David Barnea will meet with Qatari Prime Minister and Overseas Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe over the weekend, sources knowledgeable on the talks informed Al Jazeera.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has been actively working to safe the discharge of about 130 captives nonetheless being held by Hamas and different Palestinian armed teams.
Any new settlement between Israel and Hamas would additionally goal to carry concerning the longest cessation of hostilities because the warfare erupted in October, officers informed The Washington Submit, which first reported Burns’s journey.
Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will even be part of the assembly.
The important thing mediators are trying to slim the variations between Israel and Hamas on the length of the truce and the variety of captives to be launched in alternate for Palestinians detained by Israel, in keeping with Al Jazeera sources.
Qatar, together with Egypt, has engaged in negotiations to mediate a truce in Gaza and make sure the entry of humanitarian help into the besieged enclave. In November, it helped safe a weeklong pause in preventing wherein greater than 100 captives had been launched in alternate for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
White Home nationwide safety spokesperson John Kirby informed reporters that the CIA chief has been “involved in helping us with the hostage deal that was in place and trying to help us pursue another one”.
US ally Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas, unleashing a torrent of assaults by air, land and sea which have flattened a lot of the Gaza Strip and killed a minimum of 26,083 folks and injured greater than 64,000, Palestinian well being officers say.
Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Tel Aviv on leaks in Israeli media a couple of two-month ceasefire, stated critical disagreements stay over any potential Israel-Hamas deal.
“The Israeli public is not given the full picture, because there are still many sticking points. Hamas has said over and over that it won’t agree to any deal unless it leads to a permanent ceasefire and an end to the war,” Abdel-Hamid stated over the reported settlement that might see one Israeli captive freed in alternate for 100 Palestinian detainees taken from the occupied West Financial institution and Gaza.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dominated out any political settlement that might result in the formation of a Palestinian state, and ending the warfare till Hamas is eradicated.
Ceasefire foremost ‘sticking point’
Israel has proposed a 60-day pause within the preventing throughout which greater than 100 captives could be launched in phases, starting with civilian ladies and youngsters, the Reuters information company reported.
That may be adopted by the discharge of civilian males, feminine troopers and the stays of captives who died after being kidnapped by Hamas, in keeping with the supply quoted by Reuters.
Such a plan could be at odds with Hamas’s final proposal demanding an finish to the warfare, worldwide ensures that it will not begin anew and the discharge of all detainees held by Israel, together with those that participated in its October 7 assault on Israel.
Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, stated that whereas a everlasting ceasefire was a “real sticking point”, information concerning the assembly suggests there appears to be some momentum in direction of reaching an settlement on different points.
“This is the first time that there seems to be some hope that possibly both sides can come to some form of understanding since the ceasefire collapsed at the beginning of December,” she added.
Dekker stated Netanyahu was below plenty of stress domestically to do extra to carry the captives residence, together with stress from their households.
“The message from the families is very simple: Strike a deal. Whatever it takes,” she added.