Israel to Send Negotiators to Paris Hostage Talks

By Hamodia Staff

Under reported pressure from the Biden administration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to send negotiators from Israel to take part in talks for a hostage deal, Axios reported.

The talks, scheduled to take place in Paris, are said to include Bill Burns, the director of the CIA, the prime minister of Qatar and the head of intelligence for Egypt.

Earlier this month, Netanyahu took a hard line, instructing negotiators to be in listen-only mode and not to offer any ideas. Later, when he heard that Hamas had made what he called “delusional” demands, he refused to send the delegation for additional talks until Hamas changed its position.

President Biden’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk notified Israeli officials that some progress had been made with Hamas, and urged Israel to send a delegation to actively negotiate. The Biden administration wants to get a deal finished before the start of Ramadan, which begins Sunday, March 10.

On Thursday, the Israeli war cabinet “approved sending the delegation and also gave negotiators a mandate to negotiate and not only listen like in the previous round of talks,” an Israeli official said.