Demonstrators protest against the Israeli government and for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Stripe outside Defense Headquarters in Tel Aviv, January 11, 2025. (Photo: Itai Ron/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to Israel on Saturday evening after a trip to the White House at the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump, has approved sending a delegation to Doha, Qatar. The delegation’s purpose is to participate in talks related to the ongoing first phase of the ceasefire deal for the release of hostages.
According to reports in Hebrew media, the delegation went without a mandate to begin negotiations on the terms of the second phase of the ceasefire deal. Netanyahu also changed the makeup of the delegation.
According to Channel 12 news and Walla news, the delegation dispatched to Qatar, “does not have a real mandate. It will not deal with anything related to the second stage.”
Channel 12 cited a senior Israeli official familiar with the negotiations, who said that Netanyahu sent the delegation in order to please the Trump administration.
“Witkoff asked for a delegation to leave, and Netanyahu is doing it, among other things, so as not to give Hamas reasons to blow up the deal,” the source claimed.
Israel Hayom reported that a source in Netanyahu’s entourage said that discussions had started with the mediators about the possibility of extending the first stage of the hostage deal instead of moving to phase two at the end of the forty-two days.
Among the changes to the negotiating team, the Coordinator of Prisoners and Missing Persons, Gal Hirsch, and a senior Shin Bet official who replaced Shin Bet head Ronen Bar on the team, are the new additions.
A security official told Hebrew news site Maariv that Hirsch was added to the delegation “to ensure the integrity of the government in the negotiations and to determine that no progress is being made to the second stage in the meantime.”
The working-level delegation was reportedly authorized to travel to Qatar to continue technical discussions until the security cabinet, which is scheduled to meet on Monday, finalizes its position for the next round of negotiations.
The Israeli officials said that “time is pressing” both for the situation of the hostages, and the fact that the first phase is already halfway through. Negotiations for the second phase were supposed to start on day 16 of the ceasefire. Saturday marked day 22 of the first phase.
After seeing the emaciated condition of the three hostages who returned on Saturday, Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel would “not allow the situation to go unaddressed and [would] take appropriate measures.”
A senior defense official criticized Netanyahu’s response, calling it a political statement.
“What did he expect? It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him. The prime minister is familiar with the intelligence material and the medical opinions. As time passes, the releases may become more difficult in terms of the visibility of the hostages,” the official said. “It’s a statement to the base because these are pictures that are politically harmful to him, but there’s no substance to it.”
Following the criticism, an official close to Netanyahu responded, saying, “We were not familiar with a policy of deliberate starvation. There has been food in the Gaza Strip for many months, and this extreme thinness certainly surprised us.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a statement calling for Netanyahu to urgently convene the security cabinet.
“How, after the shocking pictures of Eli, Ohad, and Or this morning, does the Cabinet not convene immediately? What other proof is needed for decision makers to understand the critical urgency of returning the 76 abductees?” the Forum asked.
“The prime minister sent the negotiating delegation to Qatar with a clear and full mandate – to complete the agreement urgently, until the return of the last abductee, in a manner and date known in advance.”
