Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending the director of the country’s intelligence agency Mossad to Qatar for Gaza ceasefire talks. Netanyahu’s office gave this information on Saturday.
At present it is not clear when Mossad Director David Barnia will go to Doha, the capital of Qatar, for a new round of talks between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, but the US is pressurizing him to do so before the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20. There should be an agreement first. Barnia’s presence means that high Israeli officials are involved in the process, who have to sign this agreement.
The war between Israel and Hamas has been going on for 15 months and since then there has been only one brief ceasefire between the two sides and that too in the initial weeks of the fighting. After this, the talks mediated by America, Egypt and Qatar remained inconclusive.
Apart from this, the head of Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet and military and political advisors are also being sent to Qatar. Netanyahu’s office said the decision was taken after a meeting with the Israeli defense minister, security chiefs and negotiators “on behalf of the outgoing and newly appointed US administrations.”
Netanyahu’s office also released a photo in which Netanyahu is seen with Steve Witkoff, the special appointee for West Asia in the newly elected US President Donald Trump administration.