Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispatched a high-level delegation to Doha Saturday to help seal a hostage-and-cease-fire deal with Hamas, following recent progress in the talks and a last-minute push by President-elect Donald Trump.
Netanyahu’s decision hinged on whether or not talks had advanced enough to justify sending the team of negotiators, and came after a meeting with Israeli security chiefs and officials from the Biden and incoming Trump administrations, the Times of Israel reported.
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu met with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s point person for the Middle East, following Witkoff’s meetings with mediators in Qatar Friday.
In briefings in Doha, Witkoff reportedly said that Trump wants to see a deal “within days.”
Among the Israeli delegation heading to the table in Doha is Mossad spy chief David Barnea and Israel Defense Forces hostage point man Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon.
Sources involved in the talks said Netanyahu’s go-ahead comes amid “general cautious progress” despite mediators having downplayed headway and an Israeli official disputing claims of “significant progress,” the Times of Israel reported.
White House officials remained hopeful that a deal could be reached before Trump takes office on Jan. 20 but said Friday that the Hamas terrorist group “continues to create obstacles at the negotiating table.”
CIA Chief Williams Burns told NPR that the negotiations are “quite serious” and could be “done in the next couple of weeks,” crediting the coordination between the Biden administration and Trump’s team.
“President-elect Trump has made clear his interest in trying to get a deal … before his inauguration,” Burns added.
The incoming president previously warned Hamas, “If those hostages aren’t back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East.”
The first phase of the deal could include the release of 34 hostages, including the bodies of some who have died in captivity, as well as a pause in fighting, the release of Palestinian prisoners and aid to the Gaza Strip.
About 100 hostages, including seven Americans, are still held by Hamas in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. Up to half of them may be dead, according to officials.
With Post wires
