Netanyahu reportedly approves broad mandate for Israeli negotiating team at Doha summit

Heads of Israel's intelligence services to lead negotiating team

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the departure of the Israeli delegation to Doha on Thursday while broadening its mandate to reach a hostage and truce deal with the terror organization Hamas, Israeli media reported Wednesday evening.

Israeli sources, allegedly from within the negotiating team, told local media outlets that Netanyahu had approved a sufficiently broad mandate to enable the team to reach a deal.

However, within minutes of the report, a “political source” told media outlets that Netanyahu did not abandon his red line and that the IDF would not vacate the Philadelphi Route.

Senior officials have described the summit as Israel's last chance to reach an agreement with the terror group, despite its refusal to take part in the high-level meeting set to begin in the Qatari capital on Thursday.

The Israeli delegation will be led by Mossad Director David Barnea, Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar and IDF Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Nitzan Alon, the IDF’s hostage negotiation chief.

In addition, senior Netanyahu advisor, Ophir Falk, will reportedly join the team. Earlier reports in July claimed that Falk was sent as a personal envoy by Netanyahu due to his low trust and his differences of opinion with the security heads leading the talks.

In recent months, delegation members have complained about Netanyahu to Israeli media numerous times, claiming they didn’t receive a sufficient mandate to reach an agreement.

Last week, a negotiator said the Doha summit would not be successful unless Netanyahu widened the mandate, according to Israel's Channel 12 news.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu held three separate “in-depth” meetings for over seven hours in Tel Aviv to prepare for the talks, the Prime Minister’s Office stated.

On the U.S. side, Burns is expected to fly to the Middle East for the talks while White House Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, traveled to Egypt this week, and U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein is currently visiting Lebanon.

U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken canceled a planned visit to the Middle East at the last minute, and instead spoke on the phone with the prime minister of Qatar and the Egyptian foreign minister informing them, “We discussed the need for a ceasefire in Gaza.”

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Hamas was losing faith in the ability of the U.S. to mediate a ceasefire in Gaza, or put pressure on Israel to close a deal.

He added that the terror group would only participate in talks if they focused on implementing the proposal presented by U.S. President Biden in May.