News about Syria and Israel: Mossad chief and US representatives are apparently traveling to Gaza negotiations in Qatar

In the struggle for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and for the release of the hostages held by Hamas, a new round of negotiations has begun in the Qatari capital Doha. This was confirmed by Israeli government officials and Hamas.

Qatar, together with Egypt and the USA, is mediating between Israel and Hamas, which reject direct negotiations with each other. Hamas stressed in a statement that the negotiations were aimed at finally ending the fighting in Gaza. However, this has so far been one of the stumbling blocks in the diplomatic efforts, which have been dragging on without results for many months: Israel only wants to accept a multi-stage agreement with temporary ceasefires.

However, an Israeli government official expressed “cautious optimism” to the Israeli portal “walla.co.il”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants an agreement, he added. At the same time, there are still serious divergences between the sides, but these can ultimately be bridged. The official spoke of a time horizon of “weeks” for a possible positive conclusion to the negotiations.

Israel is represented in Doha by officials from the secret services Mossad (foreign) and Shin Bet (domestic) as well as the army. Netanyahu held a video conference with them before their departure, Israeli media reported. The mandate he gave them was not as generous as negotiators had hoped, but it was enough to make progress, TV station Channel 12 reported, citing people familiar with the process.

In the past, not only Hamas’s intransigence, but also Netanyahu’s insistence on maximum demands – including the permanent retention of Israeli troops in strategic locations inside the Gaza Strip – had repeatedly caused the talks to fail. According to Israel’s count, there are still 100 hostages held by Hamas and its allies in Gaza. Many of them are probably no longer alive by now.