Gaza Conflict: Mossad, CIA chiefs meet Qatar PM over release of Israeli hostages

According to a source briefed on the meeting, the prime minister of Qatar met with the heads of the CIA and Mossad on Thursday in Doha to discuss the terms of a deal for the release of hostages and a halt to Israel-Hamas fighting in the Gaza Strip. It was unclear how the discussions would end. Leading efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israeli officials for the release of hostages taken by Hamas terrorists when they rampaged into Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 people, have been made in Qatar, home to a number of Hamas political leaders. After that, Israel began an unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas, and late last month, it invaded the enclave with armoured vehicles. According to Palestinian officials, over 10,000 people have now died there, 40% of them were children. The meeting was presided over by Qatari mediators David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, CIA Director William Burns, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. On Wednesday night, the mediators met with representatives of the Hamas political office to discuss the possible terms of a deal. According to the source, the trilateral meeting’s benefit was that it brought the three parties together in real time at a single table to expedite the process. The issue of permitting humanitarian fuel imports into Gaza—which Israel has so far refused because it claims the fuel would be diverted to Hamas for military use—was also discussed during the talks. (With agency inputs)