From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 28, 2024
Official: Israel, mediators have received no Hamas response to hostage deal proposals
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Israel has received no official response from Hamas on the various proposals for a hostage deal under discussion, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel, nor have the mediators.
Israel is “checking all possibilities” for a deal, the official continues, and is willing to negotiate over any proposal.
In Doha, says the official, the Israeli team led by Mossad chief David Barnea discussed the Egyptian proposal for a small deal to restore trust between the sides, and the multi-stage deal being pushed by Qatar and the US.
Still, in any deal, says the official, Hamas will demand an end to the war in Gaza as a condition. “We are not willing to do that,” the official declares.
Israel still doesn’t have a clear picture of who is making decisions on hostage talks in Hamas after leader Yahya Sinwar was killed. “They still haven’t had their primaries,” says the official, “and Hamas abroad is in chaos.”
Today’s meeting in Doha between Barnea, CIA chief Bill Burns, and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani ended in the early afternoon, Ynet reports. The meetings, which began last night, are trying to combine the modest Egyptian proposal and the comprehensive Qatari-American one.
The next stage, says Ynet, is to bring Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad into talks, then move toward negotiations between working groups, where Hamas will join indirectly.
Hamas will demand the body of Sinwar in any deal, reports Ynet.
The ultimate goal is to hammer out one comprehensive proposal, and to fold a diplomatic solution to the fighting in Lebanon into it, according to the report.
Yesterday, an Israeli source told The Times of Israel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to end the fighting in Gaza and Lebanon once a diplomatic arrangement is reached that guarantees Israel’s war aims are achieved.
