Qatar, CIA and Mossad seek deal to release Hamas hostages and cease hostilities

CIA and Mossad chiefs met with Qatar’s prime minister in Doha today to discuss the parameters of a deal to release of hostages and a pause in the war Hamas – Israel in the Gaza Strip, a source briefed on the meeting told the Reuters news agency.

The outcome of talks between Qatar, the CIA and Mossad over the Hamas hostages is unclear.

Qatar, where several Hamas political leaders are based, has been leading mediation efforts between the extremist Islamist group and Israeli officials on the release of hostages taken by Hamas fighters when they attacked Israel on October 7 killing 1,400 people.

David Barnea, head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, CIA Director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abd al-Rahman al-Thani held this meeting after Qatari mediators met with officials from the Hamas political office yesterday, Wednesday, evening and discussed the parameters of a possible agreement.

The purpose of the tripartite meeting was to bring the three parties together at a table in real time in order to speed up the process, the source said.

The talks also included discussion so that to allow humanitarian fuel imports into Gazawhich Israel has so far denied, for fear of being diverted to Hamas for war purposes.

A source told Reuters yesterday, Wednesday, that the talks involved the release of 10-15 hostages in exchange for a humanitarian pause of one to two days in the war ravaging Gaza.