Security cabinet okays departure of Israeli delegation to Doha for hostage talks — report

The security cabinet has approved the departure of the Israeli negotiating delegation to Doha later today (Monday) for talks about a temporary truce in Gaza and a hostage release, Hebrew media reports.

According to Walla, the delegation led by Mossad director David Barnea received a “general mandate” to conduct negotiations, citing a senior Israeli official. Some of the issues related to the talks will need to be weighed and approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant separately, the report says.

Ynet reports that the negotiating team asked for “a significant amount of time to conduct the negotiations so that it would be possible to improve the deal, and to bring an outline that we can stand behind.”

An Israeli official cited by Ynet says: “We need to change the deal, it is important that we arrive with significant flexibility.”