The head of Mossad in Qatar wants to participate in a new round of Gaza talks

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By Andrew Mills and Nidal Al-Mughrabi

Doha/Cairo (Reuters) – Talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip began in Doha on Thursday, an informed official told Reuters.

This new round of talks will be held in the presence of the head of Israel’s intelligence service, his counterparts from the United States and Egypt, and the Qatari Prime Minister.

The talks, aimed at ending ten months of fighting in the Gaza Strip and the return of 115 Israeli and foreign hostages, took place at a time when Iran appeared close to responding to Israel after the assassination of a leader the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.

With US warships, submarines and aircraft deployed to the region to protect Israel and deter any possible attack, Washington hopes the Gaza ceasefire agreement will end the risk of a wider regional war.

Hamas officials, who accused Israel of stalling, did not participate in Thursday’s talks. But an official familiar with the talks told Reuters that the mediators planned to consult with Hamas’ negotiating team in Doha after the meeting.

Defense officials said Wednesday that the Israeli delegation includes intelligence chief David Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and IDF hostage file coordinator Nitzan Alon.

CIA Director Bill Burns and US ambassador to the Middle East Brett McGurk will represent Washington in the talks requested by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, and Abbas Kamel, the head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service. participating in the Doha talks.

Israel and Hamas blamed each other for not reaching an agreement, but before Thursday’s meeting, neither side was ruling out reaching an agreement.

A source in Israel’s negotiating team said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed him a lot of discretion in dealing with some of the fundamental points of disagreement.

Points of contention include the presence of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, the timeline for the release of the hostages, and restrictions on access to the northern Gaza Strip.

Before the talks began on Thursday, Hamas, which rejects any interference by the US or Israel in “day-after” scenarios for the war in Gaza, told mediators that if Israel made a “very serious” proposal ” according to the recommendations of the previous movement, that they would continue to participate in the discussions.

Senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Thursday that the movement was committed to the negotiation process and urged mediators to ensure that Israel follows through on the proposal agreed by Hamas in early July, which said yes it would end the war and include the complete withdrawal of Israel. forces from Strath.

As negotiators arrived in Qatar, fighting continued in Gaza, with Israeli forces bombing targets in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis.

The devastating war in the Gaza Strip left more than 40,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza Health Ministry officials, and displaced nearly all of the Strip’s 2.3 million residents.