Israeli delegation may visit Qatar for more Gaza talks

An Israeli delegation is soon expected in Qatar to continue talks on securing a pause in the war on Gaza that could see captives released.

The talks began last week in Paris and were attended by the chiefs of Israel’s spy agency Mossad and domestic security service Shin Bet, along with mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt, according to Al Jazeera.

The Israeli delegation returned from the French capital, with Israeli national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, saying during a televised interview late on Saturday that “there is probably room to move towards an agreement”.

According to Israeli media, negotiators had a meeting with the Israeli cabinet, which agreed to send a delegation to Qatar in the coming days to continue negotiations.

Al Jazeera’s Willem Marx, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said Israeli media are talking about the details of a framework for talks, which could potentially see a pause in fighting for up to six weeks if a captive is released each day from Gaza.

“It looks like there will be around 40 Israeli hostages being released – that would be women civilians, female soldiers, older men with serious medical conditions – in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners currently held in detention or Israeli jails.”

Marx said an agreement could also lead to a considerable increase in humanitarian aid going into the Gaza Strip and a potential return of Palestinians to the heavily bombarded and attacked areas in the northern part of the enclave.