Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea traveled to Rome on Sunday to participate in the latest round of indirect hostage talks with the Hamas terrorist organization.
Barnea returned to Israel early Sunday evening from meeting with the mediators.
“At the meeting the sides discussed the document with the clarifications regarding the draft agreement that was conveyed from Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a brief statement. “The negotiations on the main issues will continue in the coming days.”
Qatari Prime minister Mohammed Al Thani, Egyptian Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and US CIA director William Burns are brokering the talks.
Unlike in past negotiating sessions, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Nitzan Alon, IDF Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons did not go this time around.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set firm ground rules for the negotiators: Israel will not allow Hamas terrorists to return to northern Gaza, and Israeli forces will maintain a presence in the Philadelphi Corridor that was supposed to create a buffer between Gaza and Egypt along their mutual border — but became a transit zone for multiple Hamas smuggling tunnels instead. Israel will also maintain a foothold on the Netzarim Corridor that acts as a security belt bisecting the northern part of Gaza from its southern sector.
Hamas is still holding around 115 hostages captive in Gaza, including at least 35 whose deaths have been confirmed by Israeli intelligence.
A basic framework for the hostage deal has already been agreed upon — but a “framework” does not a hostage deal make, and Hamas has insisted on remaining as a governing entity able to freely move about the enclave, which is a non-starter for Israel.
Stay tuned . . .
