Egypt, Qatar, and the US navigate the maze of Hamas-Israeli hostage negotiations

Egypt, Qatar, and, under American supervision, have been working for weeks to untangle the complex issue of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

This challenging issue, discussed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is linked to various factors, with each party attempting to improve its conditions.

Following the release of a mother and her daughter and two older women through Qatari mediation, discussions have been underway for the past two weeks regarding an additional step to release a more significant number of hostages, ranging between 12 and 15 individuals.

But in exchange for what?

In the initial negotiations, Hamas requested the exchange of Israeli children for Palestinian children in Israeli prisons.

Yet, the new development is the US proposal that among those released, six hold US citizenship, with the rest having foreign or dual nationalities.

Furthermore, the meeting in Doha on Thursday, attended by Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, CIA Director William Burns, and Mossad Director David Barnea, delved deeper into the discussion.

However, a disagreement arose between Israelis and Americans regarding excluding Israelis without other nationalities from the deal, which could negatively impact the Israeli public.

Moreover, around two hundred and fifty is the number of Israeli hostages, the vast majority held by Hamas, with a few with the Islamic Jihad movement and other organizations.