Jan. 11 (UPI) — Israel is sending the head of the country’s intelligence service to Qatar to engage in negotiations to free remaining hostages held by Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office confirmed on Saturday.
The directive came after Netanyahu spoke at length with senior Israeli officials, including Defense Secretary Israel Katz, as well as American officials regarding the status of the hostages held in Gaza, the prime minister’s office said on X.
“At the conclusion of the discussion, the Prime Minister directed the Mossad Director, the ISA Director, Maj.-Gen. (Res) Nitzan Alon, and his Foreign Policy Adviser, Dr. Ophir Falk, to depart for Doha in order to continue advancing a deal to release our hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
Netanyahu met earlier in the day with Steve Witkoff, the incoming U.S. envoy to the Middle East for President-elect Donald Trump.
Alon and Falk will head to Qatar’s capital city of Doha to speak with representatives from Hamas, which is still holding just under 100 hostages. Any deal to release them would presumably involve a ceasefire between Israeli military forces and Hamas.
Israeli officials say Hamas has not provided information related to how many of the remaining hostages are alive.
Earlier in the week, the Israel Defense Forces said it recovered the body of Yosef AlZayadni. The 53-year-old was abducted during the coordinated Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. His body was located in tunnels in the city of Rafah in the southern part of the Palestinian enclave. Authorities also say he was killed in Gaza.
On Friday, the IDF confirmed it had recovered the body of his 23-year-old son, Hamza AlZayadni who was also kidnapped by Hamas. The younger AlZaydani’s body was also located in Gaza where officials say he was killed.
Netanyahu later sent his condolences to the family in a post on X.
The Qatari news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed quoted an anonymous Hamas source saying a deal to set the remaining hostages free was near complete. The report also states Egyptian officials will be present for the Doha negotiations in addition to Qatari and American representatives.