Spy chief reportedly says hostage release talks still stalled, deal chances slim
David Barnea said to tell relatives of captives that Israel waiting for Hamas to officially respond to proposals, though terror group seems to be sticking to full ceasefire demand
Israel’s top negotiator involved in talks over a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas in Gaza reportedly told families of captives that chances for an agreement in the near term were slim despite a recent attempt to jump-start discussions, with fears for the hostages’ fates growing daily.
Mossad Director David Barnea, who has been heading up Israel’s team in the indirect negotiations, indicated that Israel was taking a wait-and-see approach with Hamas, which had yet to respond to ceasefire proposals forwarded by international mediators, Channel 12 news reported Sunday.
According to the station, which did not cite a source, Barnea also indicated to the families that Hamas was continuing to demand an end to the war in exchange for the release of hostages.
“We still haven’t gotten any response from the mediators, neither for the Qatari proposal nor the Egyptian one, in any official capacity, so it’s best to wait,” he reportedly said. “Right now the chances for a deal are very slim.”
Barnea has held several meetings with hostages’ families in recent days to update them on negotiations, according to the station.
The intelligence boss flew to Qatar on October 27 for meetings with CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on moving toward a hostage release deal, though no progress was reported following the talks.
An Israeli official told The Times of Israel at the time that Jerusalem was exploring the possibility of a limited deal designed to get talks rolling on a more comprehensive agreement and to shed light on Hamas’s decision-making after the death of the terror group’s leader Yahya Sinwar.
Sinwar was killed by IDF troops last month, a development Israeli and Western leaders have described as an “opportunity” to make progress on a deal that would see the release of some or all the hostages held in Gaza.
The Channel 12 report claimed that though Israel has not yet received an official response from Hamas on the latest proposals, officials believe the group is unlikely to budge on its demand for a full ceasefire and troop withdrawal even after Sinwar’s death.
“The time has come to look reality in the eye,” an unnamed senior defense source was quoted by the channel saying. “If we want to achieve the goal of returning the hostages, we need to fold up shop in Gaza and worry about [formulating] a position that will guarantee Israel’s security interests going forward.”
The talks in Qatari capital Doha last week came as Egypt put forward a proposal for a two-day truce in exchange for the release of four hostages, with hopes to expand the agreement. A multi-stage, Qatari-American proposal that would ultimately see all hostages released and the war ended is also under discussion.
Egypt did not take part in the Doha talks, but Barnea reportedly held meetings with his Egyptian counterpart last month.
Hostage talks have been largely stalled for over two months, with the US publicly blaming Hamas for refusing to engage, while Egypt and Qatari mediators have privately blamed Israel, according to officials familiar with the matter.
On Friday, Hamas doubled down on its longstanding demands for a permanent ceasefire and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, saying Jerusalem had offered only a temporary pause in the war and an increase in aid shipments in the latest negotiations.
There was no immediate comment from Israel; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will continue fighting until its war goals of destroying Hamas and recovering the hostages is met, and insisted that a deal include a carve-out for troops to remain in a key corridor on Gaza’s border with Egypt.
“The proposals do not meet the comprehensive needs of the Palestinian people in terms of security, stability, relief, and reconstruction,” senior Hamas official Bassem Naem said Friday, speaking first to the Hamas-run Al Aqsa TV before confirming the group’s position to The Associated Press.
According to the Channel 12 report, Barnea told relatives that the negotiating team had not been given a mandate from Netanyahu to agree to a deal that would end the war. The spy chief also reportedly said Israel could drop demands that troops remain in the strategic Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border and secure the alleged smuggling route by other means.
Families rallying for the return of the hostages in Tel Aviv on Saturday said negotiators should be pursuing a comprehensive deal that ends the war and releases the hostages in one go.
“There is no time for a multi-stage deal and no use for it,” said Ronen Neutra, father of Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra, who was kidnapped while serving as a tank commander near Gaza.
Noam Idan Ben Ezra, the brother of captive Tsahi Idan, told the rally that a hostage release deal “requires an end to the war… The army has already won. Now it’s the political echelon’s turn.”
Before Sinwar was killed, Israel and Hamas clashed in indirect negotiations over whether a ceasefire would constitute an end to the war; over the numbers and identities of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners to be freed; over whether Israel would maintain control over the Gaza-Egypt border; over whether Israel would allow a return of residents to north Gaza; and more.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Netanyahu and other senior officials pledged during a state ceremony last week to do all they could to bring the hostages home, with the premier calling the return of living and dead hostages a “holy mission.”
