Chances of reaching for deal to free them are diminishing… Mossad chief informs families of hostages held in Gaza Strip

The head of the Israeli intelligence agency “Mossad”, David Barnea, informed the families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip that the chances of reaching an agreement to exchange them with Hamas have become weak.

According to Israeli Channel 12, Monday, that Barnea met in recent days with a number of families of Israeli hostages to inform them of the progress of the negotiations to reach a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.

In the details of the meetings, the Israeli channel added, “During the meeting with the head of Mossad, one of the relatives of the hostages asked him: What is happening with the deal now?”

The Mossad chief replied, “We haven’t yet received a response from the mediators, either to the Qatari proposal or to the Egyptian proposal officially, so it is worth waiting for”.

Barnea added, “At the moment, the chances of reaching a small deal are low, because Hamas insists on stopping the war”.

According to the Israeli channel, then the relative also asked what about the cessation of hostilities, and at this point the head of the Mossad said that the negotiating team doesn’t have a mandate from the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move towards a comprehensive deal and end the war.

In the same context, the Israeli channel indicated that Netanyahu “held limited consultations on Sunday with senior defense officials and a team of ministers.

The discussion provided an overview of the situation in the negotiations to reach an agreement, and informed the political leadership that Hamas doesn’t intend to abandon its demands for a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army.

Channel 12 quoted an unnamed Israeli security source as saying, “It’s time to look reality in the eye… The war in Gaza must be closed, and a plan must be arranged that guarantees the security interests of the State of Israel in the future”.

Hamas insists on a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Strip and a complete cessation of war to accept any agreement.