CIA chief’s meeting in Europe said aimed at pressuring Hamas, bridging gaps between Egypt, Qatar mediators

Channel 12 cites a senior Israeli official who describes the meeting slated to take place in the coming days in Europe between the intel chiefs of the US, Egypt and Israel, along with the prime minister of Qatar, as “critical” to the goal of exerting pressure on Hamas and bridging the gaps preventing a deal for the release of all Israeli hostages in Gaza.

With all the relevant players in the same room with the exception of Hamas’s leaders, “who are represented by Qatar,” the summit, according to the unnamed Israeli official, “brings together the two [hitherto separate] lines of negotiation by Qatar and Egypt in order to exert joint pressure on Hamas and to bridge the gaps between the two mediators.”

The agreement the leaders are slated to discuss would see all of the hostages released, in phases over several months, with the war paused and thousands of Palestinian security prisoners freed.

A central, massive gap remains between Israel and Hamas, however, given that Israel is refusing to agree to a permanent ceasefire, while Hamas won’t agree to release the remaining 136 hostages in exchange for anything less.

Channel 12 reports that Hamas’s conditions include a 10-14 day pause before it begins releasing hostages; 100 security prisoners released for every “humanitarian” hostage in the first stage of the release; hundreds of security prisoners released for every hostage in subsequent phases; and a withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Strip as part of the deal.