Hostage negotiations and truce talks: CIA, Mossad, and Arab intelligence leaders gather in Qatar

All eyes are turning to Qatar; why?

Because there, around one table, sat on Tuesday the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William J. Burns, and the Chief of Israeli Intelligence, Mossad, David Barnea, along with the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence, Abbas Kamel, and the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

Several files were discussed in this "quadripartite meeting," where Qatar and Egypt play the role of conveying messages between Israel and Hamas:

Firstly, extending the truce for a longer period, leading to a permanent cessation of hostilities. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, any extension would give Israel more time to define the political settlement after the war in the Gaza Strip and prepare for it.

Secondly, the release of more hostages held by the Hamas movement.

This time, the idea of releasing detained men and soldiers was discussed, specifically:
- Men who are older than the service age in the reserve.
- Female recruits.
- Male reserve soldiers.
- Soldiers in service.
- The bodies of Israelis who were killed before their capture or during captivity.

It is worth noting that in the previous five rounds, Hamas only released Israeli women and children, not to mention foreign prisoners such as Thais, Russians, and Filipinos.

While the majority of the captives are with Hamas, a part of them is with other factions or groups. 

Hamas informed the Qataris that they can reach everyone despite being in different locations in the Strip.

However, according to The Washington Post, the problem lies in the fact that some of the captives were held above ground, and Hamas is not sure if they survived during the destructive shelling that hit Gaza.