Worthy Christian News > World News > CIA and Mossad Chief Meet Qatar Premier To Discuss Release Hostages

CIA and Mossad Chief Meet Qatar Premier To Discuss Release Hostages

By Worthy News’ George Whitten and Stefan J. Bos

GAZA/JERUSALEM/DOHA (Worthy News) – The director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the chief of Israel’s spy agency Mossad met with Qatar’s prime minister Thursday to discuss the release of hostages held by Hamas and a pause in Israel’s Gaza offensive, several officials said.

Their talks in Doha came after Hamas, which Israel has pledged to destroy, asked for a three-day pause in the fighting across Gaza as it reportedly faces heavy losses.

William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, has been traveling throughout the Middle East for talks with intelligence officials and political leaders about the Gaza war and the hostages.

Qatar, which hosts Hamas’s political leadership in Doha, has been a mediator in the hostage talks, Worthy News learned.

Discussions on Wednesday and early Thursday revolved around a proposal for Hamas to release 10 to 15 prisoners, according to sources familiar with the talks.

They reportedly would include some Americans and other foreign nationals taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, as well as Israeli women, civilians, and children.

On Thursday, Burns had a group meeting with David Barnea, the chief of Mossad, and Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, sources said.

HUMANITARIAN PAUSES

While the talks were underway, the White House confirmed that Israel agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday.

U.S. President Joe Biden had pressed Israelis for a multi-day stoppage in the fighting in a bid to release hostages held by the militant group.

Biden said Thursday there was “no possibility” of a formal cease-fire at the moment. Still, he also expressed “frustration” that it had taken “longer” for Israel to agree to the humanitarian pauses.

Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the daily pauses during a Monday call. He said he had also asked the Israelis for a “pause longer than three days” to allow for negotiations over the release of some hostages held by Hamas. “It’s taken a little longer than I hoped,” Biden told reporters.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the first daily humanitarian pause would be announced Thursday. He added that the Israelis had committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance. Israel, he said, also was opening a second corridor for civilians to flee the areas that are the current focus of its military campaign against Hamas, with a coastal road joining the territory’s main north-south highway.

The Israeli government has defended its reluctance to agree on a ceasefire, saying “terrorist organization Hamas” carried out “the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust,” also known as the Shoah, when it killed 1,400 people, including babies and toddlers.

Hamas claims more than 10,000 people have been killed since Israel began its military operations on October 7, but it hasn’t specified how many of its fighters are among them.