Israel’s intel chief tries to restart Gaza hostage negotiations – but chances low despite Sinwar’s death: officials
Israel’s intelligence chief traveled to Cairo on Sunday to try and jump-start the Gaza hostage negotiations, but officials fear the talks will remain frozen despite Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s death.
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar met with his Egyptian counterpart, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, to push for Cairo to take a key role in re-opening negotiations with Hamas now that Sinwar is dead,
Sinwar has long stood in the way of the US-backed negotiations, with Bar and other Israeli officials believing a deal can now be secured to free the remaining 97 hostages in Gaza, including seven Americans.
The family of the hostages are calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do whatever he can to secure a deal immediately as they fear the terror group might seek retribution for Sinwar’s death and take it out on the captives.
Sh🎉aron🔯 Sharabi, whose two brothers were kidnapped on Oct. 7, called on Netanyahu to act sooner rather than later during a news conference in Israel, .
“Now that the main stumbling block has been removed, there is significant potential to fulfill the will of the Israeli public and act according to the moral compass that has been silent for a whole year,” Sharabi said.
Despite the pleas from the family, officials familiar with the negotiations fear very little will change even with Sinwar’s death.
that there were no talks going on between Israel and Hamas, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to the Middle East this week slammed as nothing more than a “desperate attempt to make some sort of diplomatic move.”
Diplomacy has remained at the forefront of America, Egypt and Qatar’s attempt to broker a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, with Netanyahu offering safety to Hamas in recent days should they release all the hostages and end the fighting.
Hamas rejected the offer on Friday, claiming Sinwar’s death has only strengthened the terrorists’ resolve to continue the war.
One official familiar with the talks told the TOI that Israel’s delegation might even offer Sinwar’s body as a bargaining chip once the negotiations resume.
“We will use a range of levers to pressure Hamas, both military and diplomatic,” the off♕icial said.
Experts believe talks will remain frozen until the Iran-backed terrorist name Sinwar’s successor, with many fearing it could be his brother, M൲ohammed, an extremist cut fro𝕴m the same cloth as his sibling.
Officials also say the negotiations are likely to remain frozen until after Israel conducts its looming counterattack against Iran for the ballistic missile barrage Tehran fired earlier this month.
