Report: Mossad chief to update war cabinet on development in hostage talks

Mossad chief David Barnea and IDF hostage envoy Nitzan Alon will update the war cabinet tonight about a development in the hostage negotiations, Channel 12 reports.

The network speculates without citing a source that Barnea and Alon will be relaying an updated proposal from Qatar to the offer Israel made earlier this month, which sought to free about 40 remaining female, elderly and sick hostages in exchange for a roughly two-week truce and the release of a large group of Palestinian prisoners, including ones convicted of murder.

Hamas has insisted that it is not interested in such offers and will only release hostages if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and withdraws its troops from Gaza — a nonstarter for Jerusalem.

Israel maintains that Hamas will bend if under enough military pressure, but the strategy has yet to pay dividends over the past month.