ISRAEL: Efforts To Be Made To Revive Gaza Ceasefire Talks
PM Benjamin Netanyahu's office have confirmed that an Israeli delegation led by the head of Mossad will travel to Doha, Qatar on Sunday 27 October for talks with CIA Director William Burns and Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in an effort to revive talks on the hostages-for-Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas. Barak Ravid at Axios reports, "It will be the first meeting between Israel and the deal's mediators after more than two months of deadlock in the negotiations and no significant talks between the parties. But U.S. and Israeli officials say they think Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's death creates an opportunity to resume negotiations for a deal to release the 101 hostages still held by Hamas and establish a ceasefire in Gaza."
- The potential revival of talks comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his 11th visit to the region since the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas and the outbreak of war in Gaza. Speaking alongside Al Thani in Qatar, Blinken raised the major issue with any ceasefire revival talks; Hamas' participation. Blinken: "We haven’t yet really determined whether Hamas is prepared to engage...The fundamental question is, is Hamas serious?”
- Even in the event a ceasefire deal is reached, there is no guarantee that it proves a lasting arrangement given the potential for breaches of a truce by Hamas or the IDF, as well as the heightened tensions in the region amid Israel's war on Hezbollah in Lebanon.