Israel dispatches delegation to Qatar for critical hostage talks in Gaza strip
Israel will send a delegation to Doha, Qatar today to resume talks on the Gaza hostage situation. The delegation will consist of officials from Mossad, Shin Bet, and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The visit was approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who authorized the delegation to continue negotiations.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, representing the families of hostages, praised the decision. The forum emphasized the need to seize this “window of opportunity” and urged the prime minister to give the delegation a mandate to secure the return of all hostages, both living and deceased.
In November 2024, Qatar suspended its role as a mediator after Israel and Hamas failed to make progress. Each side blamed the other for the stalemate, with Hamas accusing Israel of adding new conditions, while Netanyahu claimed Hamas reneged on previous understandings. Despite this, both sides showed cautious optimism in December about the potential for a breakthrough.
The hostage crisis began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel, killing over 1,200 people, including foreign nationals, and abducting over 250 hostages. While around 100 hostages are believed to still be alive, the rest are presumed dead, though some were returned during a partial ceasefire in December 2023.
