Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to leave a delegation headed by Mossad chief David Barnea tomorrow, Friday, to Qatar to hold a meeting with the head of the CIA, William Burns, the Qatari prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, and the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns. Egyptian Intelligence, Abbas Kamel, in order to work on the release of detainees, according to a statement issued by Netanyahu’s office.

This high-level meeting will be held within the framework of the negotiations taking place in Doha, with the aim of advancing efforts to recover detainees in Gaza and reaching a ceasefire agreement.

This comes at a time when the American CNN network, on Thursday, quoted an unnamed diplomatic source as saying that the talks between Israel and Hamas regarding the truce in Gaza are progressing positively, but there are still “many differences.”

The diplomat did not shed light on the differences, but he doubted that the two sides were close to reaching an agreement, at a time when US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, confirmed yesterday, Wednesday, that the two sides were close to reaching an agreement and that “the gaps were narrowing.”

According to CNN, the slow progress in the talks was further reflected after the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, left the Qatari capital, Doha, after only one day of indirect talks last Monday.

The American network said, "One of the most difficult obstacles may be Hamas's demand that after the initial exchange of hostages and prisoners, Israel will have to agree to a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of its army from Gaza."

Coinciding with a visit by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Cairo, a meeting was held today, Thursday, in the Egyptian capital, which included the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan, the UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation, and the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, to discuss developments in the situation in the Gaza Strip. 

According to the official spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting of Arab foreign ministers came to “discuss efforts to stop the Israeli war against Gaza, and the inevitability of achieving a ceasefire and full access to aid.”

The day before yesterday, Tuesday, the spokesman for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed Al-Ansari, said: “I do not think that we are at this moment where we can say that we are close to reaching an agreement, It is still too early to announce any successes.”