Qatar sends Israel 'positive message' regarding hostage deal advancements - KAN

Qatar has sent Israel “a positive message” regarding Hamas’s intentions to move forward in negotiations on a hostage and ceasefire deal, according to a Friday report from Israeli public broadcaster KAN.

The “positive message” in question reportedly concerns the list of hostages that would be released, as well as other points of disagreement between the two sides.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an assessment meeting with Defense Minister Israel Katz and the negotiating team, KAN noted.

Citing “foreign sources,” KAN reported that both sides have reached an agreement “in principle to negotiate the second phase of the hostage deal in parallel with the implementation of the deal’s first phase.”

Palestinian sources familiar with negotiation details, however, told KAN that the parties are not yet talking about a second phase, and therefore they have remained only in the first.

A video released by the Israeli army says to show Mohammed Sinwar, brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, travelling in a car through a tunnel near the Erez crossing, close to the Israel-Gaza border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as seen in this s (credit: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS)

Disconnect between Hamas leaders abroad vs. the Gaza Strip

Another obstacle in the negotiations, according to sources, is that the talks are being conducted with Hamas abroad and not with the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip.

Therefore, the fear is that even if the leadership accepts the deal, Mohammad Sinwar, the head of Hamas’s armed wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, may decide differently.

Hamas is expected to soon hand over to Israel a list of the living hostages it can release, KAN cited Arab media as saying.

Sources in Israel said that receiving the list would allow significant progress towards reaching a deal.

Trump envoy meets Qatar PM for Gaza ceasefire, hostage talks

Also on Friday, Steve Witkoff, US President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, met Qatar’s prime minister to discuss the ongoing negotiations, a source briefed on the visit told Reuters.