Mossad chief David Barnea will meet in Doha with the Qatari prime minister and the heads of American and Egyptian intelligence (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that the head of the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad), David Barnea, will travel to Qatar tomorrow, Friday, to meet with mediators in an attempt to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that includes the release of prisoners, while Washington spoke of pressure for the agreement.

Netanyahu's office added that the Mossad chief will meet in Doha with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, CIA Director Williams Burns, and Egyptian Intelligence Director Abbas Kamel.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation had quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that there is an opportunity to reach an agreement on a prisoner exchange deal, a ceasefire, and it is possible to bridge the gaps between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel.

Complex and difficult

For its part, Israeli Channel 12 quoted an informed Israeli official that the indicators Israel has regarding the exchange deal are not positive. He pointed out that the negotiations are complex and difficult, but a deal can be reached.

The official indicated to the channel that Tel Aviv is waiting for Hamas’ response to the Israeli response. He said that if Hamas does not soften its positions, this means that it is wasting time, as he put it.

This comes hours after Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called for an immediate prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, even if it was bad.

Lapid added - in an interview with Israeli radio - that "eliminating Hamas and its brigades in Rafah will be available now and later, but what is most important now is ending the tragedy of the hostages and their families," he said.

Lapid called for not taking any military action that would disrupt a prisoner exchange deal, and said that entering Rafah must take place in a way that does not hinder reaching a prisoner deal.

Blinken (left) stressed in a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart that there is still difficult work to reach an agreement, but it is possible (French)

American pressure

In a related development, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said - today, Thursday - that the United States continues to press to reach an agreement to release prisoners and ceasefire in Gaza.

Blinken added - in a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo - that there is still difficult work to reach an agreement, but “I still believe that it is possible.”

Yesterday, Wednesday, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan announced that the movement responded to the demands of the Qatari and Egyptian mediators and showed flexibility, but it received a negative Israeli response to its proposal for a hoped-for agreement, accusing Tel Aviv of retracting the approvals it had previously informed the mediators of.

Hamdan explained that the movement presented a comprehensive vision in accordance with the principles and foundations that it considers necessary for the agreement, achieving the priorities of the people and the resistance in stopping the aggression, the return of the displaced to their places of residence, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, and intensifying the introduction of relief and aid.

Indirect negotiations are continuing in Doha between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Qatar and Egypt and with the participation of the United States, to reach a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange deal, in light of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Israel holds at least 9,100 Palestinian prisoners in its prisons, while it is estimated that there are about 134 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip. Hamas announced that 70 of them were killed in random Israeli raids.

The war on Gaza left tens of thousands of civilian victims, most of them children and women, and a famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN data, which led to Israel appearing, for the first time, before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies