Mossad chief and Israeli team still in Doha, finalizing details of hostage deal

Mossad chief David Barnea and the Israeli negotiating team are still in Doha finalizing the details of the ceasefire-hostage release deal, The Times of Israel has learned.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispatched Barnea along with IDF hostage point man Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, and his political adviser Ophir Falk, to Doha on Saturday night when efforts to reach a deal appeared to be coming to fruition.

While Qatar and the US, who brokered the deal, announced last night that it had been reached, Israel has insisted that small gaps remain, including a dispute over which Palestinian security prisoners will be freed. Netanyahu has yet to formally announce a deal or address the nation, saying he will only do so when it is finalized.

The cabinet was slated to meet this morning to discuss and vote on the deal, though the meeting has been delayed, with the Prime Minister’s Office saying the delay is due to unresolved details, while other reports attribute it to last-minute efforts to convince far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich not to pull out of the government over the vote.