Tel Aviv, Dec 16: Mossad chief David Barnea is expected to meet Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani in Europe this weekend,to discuss the continued negotiations for a deal to release the hostages held by the Hamas in Gaza.
This will be the first time that a meeting will take place between a senior Israel official and a Qatari official since the collapse of the week-long ceasefire in Gaza on December 1.
The 58-year-old Barnea, who became the Director of Israel’s foreign intelligence service on June 2021, was a key negotiator with Qatar earlier which led to the release of 86 Israeli and 24 foreign hostages during the now-collapsed humanitarian pause from November 24-30. Saturday’s development comes just days after it was reported that the Israeli government had cancelled the Mossad chief’s planned trip to Qatar for the resumption of talks on a possible second hostage release deal.
Israel’s Channel 13 first reported on Wednesday that the country’s war cabinet, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had called off the trip. It added that senior Israeli officials will not go to Qatar to restart negotiations.
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s War Cabinet has now given a go ahead to Barnea’s visit following intense pressure from families of the hostages for the return of their loved ones’ from Gaza.
Formal negotiations have not resumed since hostage talks that had been taking place in Doha broke down earlier this month.
Mossad spy executed in Iran
Iran is saying it has executed an Israeli Mossad spy in the country’s southeast, state TV reported Saturday.
The report said the spy was linked to foreign intelligence services, including Mossad, and charged with involvement in releasing classified information. The judiciary body executed the person in a prison in Zahedan, the capital of the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan.
The report did not identify the person. (Agencies)
(IANS)