Israeli delegation to fly to Doha, but will not yet negotiate Phase II of Gaza truce

An Israeli delegation is due to leave for Doha tonight to discuss “technical issues” of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, but not how to implement the second phase, according to the Forum for Families of Hostages and Missing Persons.

So far, no official Israeli source has reported on this trip, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after meeting with several US officials early Tuesday morning, announced that a negotiating team would travel to Doha this weekend to discuss negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

“How come, after the shocking image of (former hostages) Eli, Ohad and Or this morning, the (Security) Cabinet is not meeting immediately? What further proof do we need for the decision-makers to understand the critical urgency of returning the 76 hostages?” the group said in a statement, calling for the Israeli negotiating delegation to be given a “clear mandate” to complete the deal.

Although, according to an anonymous official quoted by local media, the Israeli coordinator for hostage affairs, Gal Hirsch, will travel to Doha tonight along with members of the Mossad and Shabak intelligence agencies, this is a “symbolic warm-up trip,” in the words of another senior official quoted by the Israeli media outlet Walla.

The meeting will not advance negotiations on the second phase of the deal until at least Monday, Walla said, when Netanyahu is expected to convene the Security Cabinet to discuss the matter after his return from the US on Saturday.

According to the agreement, indirect talks with the mediators (the US, Qatar and Egypt) on the second phase of the agreement - in which soldiers and those aged over 19 and under 50 will be released - were to have started on the 16th after the agreement came into force, i.e. on 3 February.

Agencies contributed to this Aurora article