CNN
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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved sending a delegation to Qatar to continue the Gaza hostage and ceasefire negotiations, his office announced on Thursday.
Professional-level representatives from the Israel Security Agency (ISA), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, known as Mossad, will travel to the Qatari capital of Doha for the talks, the statement said.
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have carried on even as official negotiations have been deadlocked for months as the administration of US President Joe Biden pushed for a deal to be reached.
Official talks wrapped up at the end of August without reaching an agreement. Months later, in November, Qatar announced that it had paused its role as a ceasefire mediator due to a lack of willingness by the sides to reach an agreement.
Both parties have blamed the other for talks stalling as recently as last week when Hamas said Israel had set “new issues and conditions” on the terms of a deal and Netanyahu accused Hamas of “reneging on understandings.”
However, sources within Hamas and Israel have voiced cautious optimism about the prospects of reaching a deal.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of hostages, praised the news about renewed talks but also pushed for urgency.
“We cannot miss this window of opportunity! The 100 hostages being held in the depths of Hamas tunnels in Gaza don’t have time for delays in the negotiations,” the forum said on X on Thursday.
During a temporary ceasefire deal, mediated by Qatar and Egypt at the end of 2023, more than 100 hostages were released over a period of several weeks in exchange for the release of Palestinians jailed in Israel.
This is a developing story and will be updated.