Report: Barnea told Qatari PM Israel rejects Hamas demand for mediators to commit to open-ended talks

Mossad chief David Barnea reportedly informed Qatari mediators in Doha earlier today that Israel rejects Hamas’s demand for a written commitment from the mediators that the negotiations regarding the second phase of the ceasefire can extend indefinitely if needed.

The Israeli proposal submitted in May stated that during the first, six-week phase of the agreement, Israel and Hamas will enter negotiations regarding the terms of the second phase of the deal.

Clauses 8 and 14 of the Israeli offer stipulate that those negotiations can extend beyond six weeks if the sides are still engaged in the talks and that the Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators will “make every effort to ensure” that Israel and Hamas remain at the table.

In the updated proposal Hamas submitted earlier this week, the terror group dropped the words “make every effort” from Clause 14, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel yesterday. The updated phrase would read that the mediators would “ensure” that the sides remain at the negotiating table — an ostensibly more binding formulation.

Barnea informed Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani that Israel cannot accept the Hamas formulation for Clause 14, according to the Walla news site.

Israel fears that Hamas will use a written commitment from the mediators to ensure the talks continue indefinitely to drag out the first phase negotiations instead of releasing the remaining living hostages who are supposed to be freed in the second phase.

The proposal states that Israel is allowed to resume fighting if Hamas fails to abide by the terms of the agreement. However, Jerusalem fears that the updated Clause 14 sought by Hamas will make it much harder for the IDF to return to fighting, without being seen as the side violating the agreement, Walla reports, adding that Israel could then face a UN Security Council resolution ordering an immediate ceasefire without the release of the hostages.

American mediators have proposed a compromise, replacing the phrase “make every effort” in Clause 14 with “undertake,” Walla says.