A Palestinian source told Al Araby Al Jadeed that the talks on Sunday were “decisive”, adding that the mediators managed to bridge gaps between Hamas and Israel.
The Chief of Israeli intelligence (Mossad), David Barnea, travelled to Qatar on Monday to join outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden’s top Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, in talks aimed at reaching a captives’ release and a Gaza ceasefire deal.
A U.S. official and a source familiar to the meetings told Axios on Sunday that McGurk had already travelled to Doha, whereas Israeli media said Barnea is travelling the following day.
The visits come after a new round of talks took place in the Qatari capital on Friday amid mounting pressure to reach a deal before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
Trump had repeatedly said that “all hell is going to break out” if a deal is not reached by the time of his inauguration.
A Hamas official, who remained anonymous, told Reuters on Sunday that the movement approved a list of 34 captives presented by Israel if a ceasefire deal is reached.
Palestinian sources separately told Al Araby Al Jadeed on the same day that the talks in Doha are ongoing despite the presence of “some outstanding points”, without detailing any of them.
A Palestinian source told the same outlet that the talks on Sunday were “decisive”, adding that the mediators managed to bridge gaps between Hamas and Israel.
They explained that the mediators were awaiting a response from the Israeli government after a meeting that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held with other key officials.
Netanyahu has been under increased domestic pressure to secure the release of remaining captives, especially after the latest video of 19-year-old captive, Liri Albag, released by the Al-Qassam Brigades on Saturday.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, had captured 251 captives during the surprise attack on October 7, 2023, known as Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
Hamas had released 109 of the captives under a week-long truce mediated by Qatar and Egypt that expired on December 1, 2023. Israel says at least 96 captives remain in the Gaza Strip, including the bodies of 34.
The indirect talks between Hamas and Israel have faced a long period of stalemate since the expiry of the previous deal. Israel has insisted on continuing the genocide in the Gaza Strip while refusing to completeley withdraw its forces throughout the negotiations.
In a statement last month, Hamas said that the negotiations were “proceeding seriously in Doha” and that it had “shown responsibility and flexibility”.
Despite this, Israel kept adding new conditions related to the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, comprehensive ceasefire and exchange of the Palestinian prisoners and Israeli captives, Hamas explained at the time.
Israel has also intensified its brutal attacks on the Gaza Strip, particularly in the northern part, since late last year despite the continuation of the talks in both Doha and Cairo.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 45,338 Palestinians while creating a devastating humanitarian crisis under its complete chokehold over the entry of aid.
The figure shared by Palestine’s health ministry over those killed is an undercount of the actual death toll with thousands still trapped under the rubble.
Israel has also reduced the besieged enclave to rubble, displaced more than 90 percent of the population while maintaining a complete air, land and sea blockade on the territory.
