CIA and Mossad chiefs to hold talks on Hamas hostage deal

The heads of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad spy agency are expected to hold talks with senior Egyptian and Qatari officials on February 13 in an attempt to revive negotiations on a deal to halt the Israel-Hamas war and secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, said people familiar with the process, Report informs referring to The Financial Times.

The negotiations, likely to be held in Cairo, come a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’s demands for an agreement as “delusional” and vowed to press on for “total victory” in the war with the Palestinian militant group. Despite Netanyahu’s stance, US President Joe Biden on Monday said he would do “everything possible” to broker a six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of the hostages.

He warned Israel its forces must not launch an offensive in Rafah, a crowded city of more than 1mn people near Gaza’s border with Egypt, “without a credible plan” to protect civilians.

Biden spoke after a meeting at the White House with Jordan’s King Abdullah, who warned an Israeli offensive in Rafah would “produce another humanitarian catastrophe”. “We cannot afford an Israeli attack on Rafah,” King Abdullah said.

“The situation is already unbearable for more than a million people who have been pushed into Rafah since the war started. We cannot stand by and let this continue. We need a lasting ceasefire now.” Mediators hoped Mossad chief David Barnea’s plan to travel to Egypt was a sign that Israel was still open to discussions on a potential deal, despite Netanyahu’s rhetoric.

“The discussions have been constructive and there’s willingness to compromise,” said a diplomat briefed on the talks. “Barnea wouldn’t be going to the talks unless he had the go-ahead.” “The key elements of the deal are on the table,” Biden said on Monday. “There are gaps that remain,” he added, but he had “encouraged Israeli leaders to keep working to achieve the deal”.