Hostage talks said to have lost ‘momentum’ since Dermer took over negotiating team
Israeli source says Netanyahu confidant doesn’t believe all hostages can be released, is instead focusing on one more major release of living captives
Qatar is frustrated with the pace of Israel’s ongoing hostage negotiations under the leadership of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, an official with knowledge of the talks told The Times of Israel on Friday.
Earlier Friday, a source involved in the negotiations told CNN that there is a “significant difference in momentum” since Dermer replaced Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and Mossad director David Barnea.
“There is a clear shift in [Israel’s] priorities,” the source told CNN. “Negotiations are seemingly being politicized from the Israeli team.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tapped Dermer — one of his closest confidants — to head the team in February after the premier sidelined Barnea and Bar, who negotiated the most recent hostage release and Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas.
In March, members of the negotiating team told Channel 12 news that Dermer’s leadership of the efforts was ineffective.
An Israeli official, however, rejected the idea that Dermer was slowing down talks, telling CNN: “To reach a deal, you need someone who actually represents the will of the government who will authorize said deal, not ‘dissent,’ which only served to undermine negotiations.”
However, an Israeli source told The Times of Israel that Dermer doesn’t believe it will be possible to get all the hostages out and that he expressed this position to the White House during Netanyahu’s visit earlier this week. He is instead trying to set the stage for one more major release of living hostages.
There has been an improvement in discipline from the negotiators since Dermer has taken over from Bar and Barnea, said the Israeli source. Leaks have been dramatically reduced, especially those blaming Netanyahu for getting in the way of progress.
The war in Gaza started on October 7, 2023, when some 5,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
Hamas freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war.
The terror group released 30 hostages — 20 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals — and the bodies of eight slain Israeli captives during a ceasefire between January and March. In exchange, Israel has freed some 2,000 jailed Palestinian terrorists, security prisoners, and Gazan terror suspects detained during the war.
The sides had agreed to hold talks on a second and third phase of the January deal that would include the return of all hostages, end the war, and ensure a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
However, the truce collapsed after the first stage, when Israel refused to enter negotiations on the terms of the subsequent phases, and Hamas refused to extend the first phase, leading Jerusalem to resume military operations in Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.