Head of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad met with Qatari prime minister; Hamas rejects negotiations without a ceasefire
The head of the Israeli secret service Mossad, David Barnea, met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Friday (December 15, 2023), according to a source close to the authority of the Portal agency.
The meeting in Europe was the first dialogue between senior officials from Israel and Qatar since the end of the sevenday ceasefire in November. The aim was to restart negotiations to free Hamas hostages, with Qatar acting as a mediator in the Gaza conflict.
In a statement to reporters on Saturday (December 16), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu avoided answering a question about the meeting but confirmed that he had given instructions to the negotiating team.
“We have serious criticism of Qatar. But now we are trying to complete the release of our hostages,” he said. Netanyahu said the war in Gaza must be fought “until victory” and that the region would be demilitarized under Israeli security control.
Hamas said on Sunday (December 17) that it “will not negotiate a prisoner exchange until the aggression against our people stops once and for all.” In a statement, the extremist group said the position had been communicated to “all intermediaries.”
Pressure on Netanyahu to release more hostages increased after the Israeli army reported on December 6 (December 15) that it had “mistakenly” killed three Israeli prisoners who were trying to join the extremist group in Shejaiya, a town in the Gaza Strip , to escape.
According to the Israeli government, the three dead were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th. According to The Israel Times, read the names of the hostages:
- Yotam Haim;
- Samer Talalka;
- Alon Shamriz.
John Kirby, spokesman for the US Security Council, called the incident a “tragic mistake.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he said Lessons learned, but operations continue.