Mossad chief David Barnea traveled to Doha, Qatar, to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani for matters "not regarding negotiations for a hostage deal," a senior security source stated on Thursday.
"The head of the Mossad even made it clear in the meeting that a partial deal had been dropped," the source said.
This comes after Hamas gave a green light to the possibility of resuming negotiations.
Senior Hamas official, Taher al-Nunu, noted that talks would focus on “ways to stop the war in the Strip, allow the entry of aid, and end the suffering of the people in Gaza.”
In the same line, a Hamas leadership delegation, headed by Khalil al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to hold talks with senior Egyptian officials.
This is the first such visit since last week’s decision by the security cabinet to launch an operation to capture Gaza City.
Despite the visit, an Israeli official said that so far, there has been no new message from the terrorist organization regarding the prospect of an agreement.
Negotiations stalled and low optimism from the mediators
Israel has not ruled out the possibility of sending a delegation for talks on a potential deal, but has made it clear that no decision has been made yet.
While mediators Qatar and Egypt are trying to formulate a framework that would include the release of all hostages and an end to the war, the possibility of negotiating a partial deal – involving the release of only 10 hostages – has not been ruled out.
An Egyptian source familiar with negotiations told Saudi channel Al Arabiya on Thursday that the proposal for ending the war and hostage exchange would be carried out in two stages.
According to the report, Hamas would commit to a long-term ceasefire and freeze its military wing's activities during a transitional period. The deal would also include halting weapons manufacturing and smuggling in Gaza, as well as a "symbolic exile" of some Hamas leaders from Gaza and the deployment of temporary international and Arab forces.
Al Arabiya reported that the plan envisioned a gradual withdrawal of the IDF under Arab and American supervision.