The US and Israeli spy chiefs were in Qatar on Thursday, working on plans for a potential humanitarian pause that would allow as many as 20 hostages to be released by Hamas and more aid to enter the besieged Gaza Strip.
The three-way negotiations between CIA director Bill Burns, David Barnea, head of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, and Qatari officials are focusing on a three-day humanitarian pause in Israel’s offensive to facilitate the release of 10 to 20 civilian hostages, said an official briefed on the discussions.
Qatar is in turn liaising with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group at war with Israel. The temporary halt in fighting would also be used to push Hamas to compile and hand over a list of all the more than 240 hostages it is holding, according to the official, and to enable more aid to be delivered to the strip.