Secret, direct channel between Israel and Hamas credited for enabling Jan. 2025 hostage deal

Israeli television on Friday reported further details about this week’s revelation of the direct channel of communication between Israel and Hamas during the recent Gaza war, which a source quoted by the network said played a critical role in securing the release of some hostages.

The channel was established in August 2024, according to Channel 12 news, shortly after Hamas operatives executed six Israeli hostages abducted during the October 2023 massacre that sparked the war, after sensing Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip approaching their tunnel.

There was considerable frustration in the Israeli security establishment after that incident, leading to the conclusion that a direct channel of communication was needed with Hamas and that mediating countries Egypt and Qatar could not be solely relied on.

A channel was set up between a senior Shin Bet official — on behalf of agency chief Ronen Bar — and senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad. The report did not detail how the sides established direct contacts, which were approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, who at the time served as deputy to Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.

The communication between the senior Shin Bet and Hamas representatives took place strictly over the phone, with dozens of calls taking place between them. Bar would listen in on them in real time.

A source familiar with the channel said it was used to neutralize many “landmines” in the hostage talks.

But the calls also devolved into shouting matches, with each side arguing over names, and Israel making clear which Palestinian security prisoners it would not release under any circumstance, according to the source.

The source claimed the direct channel run by the Shin Bet was also essential for overcoming obstacles set by Qatar, “which did not supply the goods and became a disruptive element.” The Shin Bet sparred throughout the war with fellow intelligence agency Mossad over who should mediate, with the Shin Bet favoring Egypt while the Mossad preferred Qatar, which has hosted Hamas leaders and is a leading patron of the Gaza-ruling terror group.

The source familiar with the Shin Bet channel credited it for getting Hamas on board with the deal that was eventually reached in January 2025, during which dozens of both living and slain hostages were freed in small batches in return for boosted humanitarian aid to Gaza and over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

“[Steve] Witkoff got Netanyahu on board. We got Hamas on board,” the source claimed in reference to US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, who was hailed at the time for helping sway the premier after a “tense” meeting in Jerusalem.

As part of the January 2025 deal, the sides also agreed to hold talks on a second and third phase that would include the return of all hostages, end the war, and ensure a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but the truce collapsed after the first stage. In October that year, another US-backed agreement was reached to end the war that saw Palestinian terrorists release all the remaining captives.

The new details revealed Friday by Channel 12 came a day after it was authorized by the military censor to publish a long-censored report that Bar began holding direct hostage negotiations with exiled Hamas leaders after the October 7 invasion that continued until February 2025, when he was removed from his leading role in Israel’s negotiating team by Netanyahu.

“A total lie. The prime minister refused to hold negotiations with Hamas, which were solely led by mediators,” Netanyahu’s office said in response to that report, which noted the contacts were held with the approval of the premier, war cabinet and security cabinet.

The television network suggested the censor’s decision was linked to another report published Thursday on secret Hamas contacts, which Netanyahu allegedly held via his emissary Shlomi Fogel in 2014. Both Netanyahu and Fogel denied that earlier Walla news outlet report about secret negotiations, which provoked a political firestorm.

‘Systematically violating the ceasefire’

Also Friday, the Israel Defense Forces announced that a Hamas terrorist who participated in the October 7 onslaught and a commander in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were killed in separate strikes in Gaza City on Thursday.

One strike in the Shati camp killed Ibrahim Nabil Ibrahim Bass, who, according to the IDF, was a Hamas commander who invaded Israel on October 7.

A separate strike, in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood, killed Hamdi Ahmad Hamid Kahlil, identified by the military as a surveillance platoon commander in Islamic Jihad.

The IDF justified the strikes amid the ceasefire by claiming that both terror operatives had recently advanced attacks on troops and Israeli civilians, as well as acted to restore the capabilities of the terror groups, “while systematically violating the ceasefire.”

“The strikes were carried out to remove the threat,” the army added.

מפקד שפשט ב-7 באוקטובר ומפקד תצפיות בגא״פ: צה״ל חיסל שני מפקדים מארגוני הטרור חמאס וגא״פ ברצועת עזה

צה"ל תקף במרחב שאטי אתמול, וחיסל את המחבל אברהים נביל אברהים בס, מפקד בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור חמאס.

המחבל פשט לשטח מדינת ישראל בטבח ה-7 באוקטובר pic.twitter.com/hpFWNeLxDn

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— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 28, 2026

The IDF announced Thursday that two other Hamas commanders were killed in Israeli strikes in the Strip.

While the US has been pushing for such strikes to end, as it seeks to advance the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan, Israel has bucked those calls, vowing to continue to pursue perpetrators of October 7.