The head of the Shin Bet secretly visited Qatar and the UAE as part of Doha’s mediation efforts in the file of prisoners held by resistance factions in the Gaza Strip. The visit confirms that Israel is seeking to exhaust the diplomatic track in parallel with the occupation's ground operations in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority (“Kan 11”) said on Monday that the private Israeli plane that had landed in Qatar yesterday, last Sunday, was carrying the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, who also secretly visited the UAE, as part of the ongoing talks. As part of mediation efforts in an attempt to reach an agreement to release the prisoners.

"Kan 11" reported that the head of the Mossad made a "secret visit to Qatar over the weekend as part of efforts and communications to release the hostages." Reports had revealed, last night, that a private plane, which had previously been used for flights of senior Israeli officials, had returned to Israel. Coming from Qatar.

Kan 11 pointed out the central role played by Qatar in the issue of Israeli prisoners held by the resistance factions in the Gaza Strip, and the channel considered that the Mossad chief’s secret visit to Doha confirms the continuation of negotiations on the prisoners’ file, in parallel with the occupation’s ground operations in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Walla website, citing two informed sources, reported that Barnea “discussed with senior officials in Doha the file of negotiations to release those kidnapped by Hamas in Gaza.” The website reported that Washington is also making efforts to meet the Qatari authorities regarding the prisoners’ file, “given that many Some of them hold American citizenship.”

Two high-ranking Israeli officials said that the Israeli "war cabinet" took a decision last Thursday to begin ground operations in the Gaza Strip in light of the failure to achieve any breakthrough in the ongoing Qatari mediation talks regarding the file of prisoners held by the resistance factions in Gaza.

The report stated that the Israeli decision came in the wake of the Hamas movement’s rejection of Israel’s request to hand over, through the Qatari mediator, a list of the names of the prisoners held by the movement. According to Israeli officials, “Hamas informed the Qataris that it is still in the process of knowing the whereabouts of all the kidnapped people, verifying their identities, and collecting their names.” ".

The report said, “Hamas’ response created a feeling in Israel that Hamas was pursuing a tactic to delay the ground incursion of the occupation forces into the Gaza Strip.” Walla explained that the Mossad chief’s visit to Qatar came after the start of the ground operation, and came to renew communications with the Qatari mediator.

The website quoted informed sources as saying that the talks held by Barnea witnessed progress but did not achieve a real breakthrough.

In a press conference held this evening with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, refused to answer whether his government was ready to exchange Israeli prisoners for Palestinian prisoners in the occupation prisons.

He said: “I will not go into issues related to the negotiations to return the hostages, but I will say that our assessment is that the escalation of the military operation over the past two days contributes to achieving both goals, which are eliminating Hamas and its military machine and achieving our goal in Gaza, and also advancing the chances of an agreement on the hostages, and I cannot say more.” So".

Regarding the possibility of a prisoner exchange agreement, Dermer said: “These decisions are not taken by the Military Ministerial Council (the War Cabinet). They are taken in the Ministerial Council for Security and Political Affairs (the Expanded Cabinet) and then presented to the full Israeli government, which must vote on any decision.”

Qatari-American discussions

Earlier today, the Qatari Foreign Minister, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman bin Jassim, discussed with his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, developments in the Gaza Strip and “mediation to release prisoners.” This came in a phone call received by the Qatari Foreign Minister from Blinken, according to what was reported by the Qatar News Agency, QNA.

During the call, they "reviewed the seriousness of the escalation of confrontations in the Gaza Strip, and the necessity of an immediate ceasefire." The two sides also discussed "the latest developments in the mediation to release prisoners." During the call, Qatar's Foreign Minister stressed "the necessity of opening the Rafah crossing permanently to ensure the flow of relief convoys and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian brothers trapped under the bombing."

This comes in light of the Israeli allegations about the “liberation” of an Israeli female soldier who was being held by the resistance factions in the Gaza Strip, during the ground operations carried out by the occupation army in the besieged Strip, last night, hours after the “Al-Qassam Brigades” broadcast a video that includes 3 Israeli female prisoners in which they hold Netanyahu responsible for their captivity, and demand that he free all Israeli prisoners in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

There are more than 239 Israelis who were captured by the resistance factions in the Gaza Strip, during the attack carried out by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, on Israeli military sites and towns in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip, on October 7, including high-ranking military personnel, and the Hamas movement is seeking to replace them with Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons, including children and women.

In a related context, the US State Department claimed today that Hamas made a number of demands before allowing people to leave Gaza, while Washington is working to ensure safe passage for Americans who want to leave, and to secure the release of prisoners held by resistance factions in Gaza.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller claimed, “Hamas has put forward a number of demands before it allows people to leave Gaza... Just as we believe they should release all the hostages they are holding, we believe they should... allow all American citizens to leave.” and other citizens.”