From the Liveblog of
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Mossad, Shin Bet chiefs to fly to Cairo for hostage talks, despite Hezbollah attack
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
A senior Israeli delegation is heading to Cairo today despite the Hezbollah attacks, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel. It will be led by Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet director Ronen Bar.
The Americans are applying significant pressure on Israel to wrap up a deal, says the official, in order to prevent a larger war from breaking out across the region.
One of the requests from Washington was that Israel put out messages indicating it is not looking for a major escalation, and is still interested in a hostage deal.
Still, Israel isn’t especially optimistic that Hamas will agree to a deal, but is willing to pursue talks as long as there is a chance they will succeed.
On the thorny issue of an IDF presence on the Philadelphi Route in the event of a deal, the source says that Israel and Egypt agree that Israeli troops will withdraw from positions near populated areas but will not have to abandon the border area entirely.
