Mossad (Israel's foreign intelligence agency) director David Barnea visited Qatar over the weekend and met senior Qatari officials to discuss their efforts in trying to secure the release of the more than 235 Israeli and foreign nationals who were taken hostage and brought to Gaza during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, two sources with direct knowledge of the issue said, Report informs via Axios.
Qatar is currently the main mediator between Israel and Hamas over the issue of the hostages. The Biden administration is also working with Qatar on this issue because several of the hostages Hamas is holding are Americans.
The Israeli war cabinet last Thursday decided to begin its expanded ground operation in Gaza after Qatar's mediation didn't bear any fruit, two Israeli officials said.
Israel made the decision in part because Hamas refused to give Israel via Qatar a list of names of all the hostages it is holding, the officials said.
Hamas told the Qatari officials it is still in the process of finding out where all the hostages are located and their identities. But the feeling in Jerusalem was that this was just a tactic to buy time and prevent an Israeli ground operation, the Israeli officials said.
Barnea's trip to Doha took place after the ground operation started. He resumed the hostage talks, which two sources brief on the issue said were positive and constructive but haven't led to a breakthrough.
Since the ground incursion started late Friday, both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant have said publicly that increasing the military pressure on Hamas could get the group to release the hostages.
Hamas on Monday released a video of three hostages: Yelena Tropenov, Daniel Aloni and Rimon Kirsht. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office called the video "cruel Hamas-ISIS psychological warfare".