Watan-Israeli media outlets revealed the behind-the-scenes of the Cairo meeting, which aimed to make a breakthrough in the negotiations and discussions regarding the war on Gaza and the prisoner file.
The Israeli delegation included Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet (General Security Service) chief Ronen Bar, and for the first time, Ophir Falk, the political advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli delegation met with CIA Director William Burns, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Cairo.
Reason for the failure of the Cairo meeting
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that the Cairo meetings ended with Hamas insisting on its position to end the war on the Gaza Strip.
It added that the Israeli delegation left Cairo, while no statement was issued by the meeting parties or by Hamas so far.
The authority quoted an Israeli political official as saying that Hamas’s position has not changed, and the movement still insists on stopping the war, which Israel did not accept.
It noted that Netanyahu rejected a framework for a new prisoner exchange agreement presented to him by the heads of Mossad and Shin Bet in the past few days, without specifying its details.
It continued: “For this reason, the Israeli delegation went to Cairo empty-handed.”
Israeli disagreements
In a related context, Israeli Channel 13 quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying that a dispute arose last night between the political and security elite in Israel regarding the delegation’s participation in the Cairo talks.
It said that this dispute led the Coordinator of Prisoners and Missing Persons, Nitzan Alon, to stay in Israel and not travel to Egypt.
Israeli participation as a courtesy to Biden
According to the same official, the arrival of the Israeli delegation to Cairo was intended to conduct courtesy talks at the request of US President Joe Biden.
It indicated that Netanyahu sent his political advisor to ensure that the head of Mossad did not exceed his authority in Cairo.
A ceasefire between Hamas and Israel had previously prevailed for a week until December 1st, during which a ceasefire was observed, prisoners were exchanged, and extremely limited humanitarian aid was brought into Gaza through Qatari, Egyptian, and American mediation.
It is estimated that there are 134 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, while at least 8,800 Palestinians are detained in Israeli prisons.