Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Reuters)
Israel's Channel 13 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his dissatisfaction with the progress of the deal to release Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip, and Qatar's performance in this regard.
During recent discussions, Netanyahu reiterated his anger at Qatar, saying more pressure should be exerted on Doha.
She confirmed that Netanyahu asked the Israeli negotiating team to verify the level of progress in the Egyptian mediation axis on the "hostages" file.
According to the channel, Netanyahu expressed his position after the assassination of Saleh al-Aruri, deputy head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and before Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani received a delegation of families of the detainees.
Families of Israelis detained in the Gaza Strip protest outside the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv (French)
Positive encounters
Earlier, Israel Radio, citing the families of prisoners held in Gaza who returned from Qatar, said that "their meetings there were very positive."
Axios quoted a Qatari official as saying that "Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani informed the families of 6 American and Israeli detainees in Doha that the killing of Saleh al-Arouri complicated efforts to secure a new prisoner exchange agreement."
The Qatari prime minister briefed the families of U.S. and Israeli detainees on the challenges Doha faces in efforts to reach a new agreement, the official said.
"Qatar has told the families of the detainees that talking to Hamas has become more difficult, especially after what happened in Beirut," he said.
Axios also quoted the Qatari official as saying that maintaining channels of communication with Hamas is becoming increasingly difficult, due to the escalation of bombardment in Gaza and elsewhere.
Source : Al Jazeera + Agencies + Israeli Press