Israeli delegation to visit Qatar for hostage negotiations

TEL AVIV: Israel is set to send a delegation to Qatar’s capital Doha today to resume negotiations regarding a hostage agreement in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.

The delegation will include officials from Mossad, the country’s intelligence agency; Shin Bet or the Israeli Security Agency, the intelligence, technological, and operational organisation of Israel; and Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

On Thursday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office had announced that the Prime Minister had approved the delegation’s visit to Qatar to discuss a potential hostage-ceasefire arrangement. In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said, “Netanyahu authorised a working-level delegation from the Mossad, Shin Bet and IDF to continue negotiations in Doha”.

Meanwhile, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a civil, volunteer-based organisation, representing the families of the hostages, welcomed the decision by Netanyahu and said that “window of opportunity” cannot be missed.

In a rough translation of the post on X, the organisation said, “The Hostages and Missing Families Forum welcomes the decision to send the Israeli delegation to Qatar. We must not miss the window of opportunity! We demand that the prime minister give the negotiating team a mandate to reach an agreement that will see the return of every last hostage — the living to rehabilitation and the murdered for an honorable burial.”

מטה משפחות החטופים מברך את ההחלטה על הוצאת המשלחת הישראלית לקטאר.

אסור לנו לפספס את חלון ההזדמנויות!
ל-100 החטופים המוחזקים במעמקי מנהרות החמאס בעזה אין זמן לגרירת רגליים במו״מ.
*אנחנו דורשים מרה״מ להעניק לצוות המו״מ מנדט מלא להשגת הסכם שיבטיח את השבת כל החטופים, עד האחרון* -… pic.twitter.com/Lhh8880s7v

— מטה המשפחות להחזרת החטופים והנעדרים (@BringThemHome23) January 2, 2025

In November 2024, Qatar had said that it halted its role as a ceasefire mediator due to a lack of willingness by Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement.

According to a CNN report, Israel and Hamas blamed each other for talks stalling when Hamas said Israel had set “new issues and conditions” on the terms of a deal and Netanyahu accused Hamas of “reneging on understandings.” However, sources within Hamas and Israel have voiced cautious optimism in December about the prospects of reaching a deal.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas, the largest militant group in Palestine had carried out a massive terror attack on Israel. Over 1,200 people including foreign nationals were killed by Hamas, women were raped and over 250 hostages were abducted. Out of them, only around 100 are said to be alive, the rest are believed to be killed in captivity, and some were returned to Israel during a partial ceasefire in December 2023. (ANI)