The Israeli negotiating team, headed by Mossad chief David Barnea, traveled to Qatar on Monday for talks on an agreement with Hamas for the release of hostages and a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, but Israeli officials expect the negotiations to be drawn out because of the technical difficulties of connecting with Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
Talks are expected to be especially complicated, as negotiations will be held not between Israel and the other three negotiating parties — Qatar, Egypt and the United States — but between Israel and Hamas. This means that during the negotiations, Qatar apparently will relay to Sinwar each time the Israeli position and wait for him to respond. Israel estimates that each such exchange could take 24-36 hours. Haaretz reported that a senior Israeli diplomatic source expects the indirect negotiations to last at least two weeks because of the technical difficulties of connecting with Sinwar.
Israel’s security cabinet approved Sunday night for the negotiating team to travel to Doha, laying out the country’s red lines for the talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided that the mandate needed the approval of the entire security cabinet, not just the smaller war cabinet as was the case in the past. Similarly to prior talks, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Gen. Nitzan Alon, who is responsible for the coordination of the hostages and the missing, and other security officials are part of the negotiating team.
Haaretz reported that the team received from the government a broad mandate for negotiating, reflecting a shift after a long period where negotiations were held over principles, not over details. "The team didn't get everything it asked for," Haaretz quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying, who continued that the negotiators did get details that should offer them "an effective opening point" for negotiations". The source added that the framework includes 42 days of respite against the release of 40 abductees.
