From the Liveblog of
Friday, November 17, 2023
Report: PM called Biden urging him to pressure Qatar to increase number of hostages in pending deal
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During last night’s war cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu phoned US President Joe Biden and urged him to pressure Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to expand the number of hostages to include in the deal being negotiated by Doha between Israel and Hamas, Channel 12 reports.
Mossad chief David Barnea is already in touch with the Qataris, but Netanyahu wanted to up the pressure from another source, the report says.
After previous hostage deal proposals would’ve seen parent hostages separated from their children abducted with them in Gaza, the war cabinet has informed mediators that under no circumstances will it accept the separation of parents from their children.
While various news outlets continue publishing reports claiming that deals for releasing various numbers of hostages are in the works, none of them have materialized and Israel continues to urge the public not to rely on such rumors.
Channel 12 notes that even after proposals are finalized, it can take hours or days to hear back from Hamas leaders in Gaza who are the ones making decisions in the terror group and are currently located deep under ground and only able to make contact with the outside world in a limited manner.
The Times of Israel Community.