Release of the Israeli hostages: in the next few days the heads of the CIA and Mossad will meet in Europe for new talks

The director of the CIA, William Burnswill travel to Europe in the next few days to meet the head of the Israeli Mossad, David Barneaand the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani in an attempt to revive talks for the release of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. Two Israeli officials reported this to the Times of Israel newspaper. It will be the first new high-level meeting since negotiations broke down two weeks ago after Hamas responded to a proposal put forward by U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators with amendments deemed unacceptable by both the United States and Israel. The proposal called for the gradual release of the 128 remaining Israeli hostages, starting with the release of 33 abducted women, elderly and sick people during a six-week truce period. The second phase was supposed to include the release of the remaining hostages and talks on a permanent ceasefire. The bodies of the hostages held by Hamas would then be released during the third phase. Hamas’ response to the mediators’ proposals approved by Israel included several far-reaching amendments, including refusing to release 33 living hostages in the first phase, according to media reports.

It is not clear – continues “Times of Israel” – whether the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, will also participate in the next European meeting, as he has done in the past. However, Cairo should remain involved in the mediation process, a US official and an Israeli official said, he added in the newspaper. Meanwhile, Egypt did not positively welcome the recent news that appeared in the “Times of Israel” and “CNN”, according to which it had provided separate proposals to Israel and Hamas in the last round of negotiations in Cairo in recent weeks, contributing to their collapse two weeks ago. Cairo has threatened to cease its mediation efforts. However, the Israeli official quoted by “Times of Israel” speculated that Cairo will not distance itself from the talks, as it is too tied to the conflict, given the shared border with Gaza.

Development It comes after yesterday, May 23, Israel’s war cabinet approved the resumption of indirect talks with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas for the release of the hostages still in the Gaza Strip and the achievement of a truce. The decision came a few hours after the release of a video by the families of the hostages kidnapped on 7 October 2023 by Islamist militiamen, showing the kidnapping of five Israeli soldiers who were operating in the Nahal Oz base, near the border with Palestinian exclave. The video, lasting just over three minutes and recorded by the “body cams” of the Islamist group’s militiamen, was cut to remove the parts considered most explicit. “The video is a damning testimony to the nation’s failure to bring home the hostages, who were abandoned for 229 days. The Israeli government must not waste another moment: it must return to the negotiating table immediately,” the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons in Israel said in a statement. Hamas, for its part, said the footage had been “manipulated and the authenticity of what it contains cannot be confirmed.”

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