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Israeli Spy Chief Visits Qatar to Revive Gaza Talks
David Barnea, the head of the Israeli Mossad, attends an honor guard ceremony for Israel’s incoming military chief Herzi Halevi at Israel’s Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 16, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency visited Qatar on Thursday to revive Gaza ceasefire talks, according to multiple reports.
Two Israeli officials told Reuters about the meeting, which was the most high-level talks between Israel and mediators since negotiations broke down last month.
David Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani to discuss the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, according to Axios, which reported that the head of Israel’s national intelligence agency stressed in his meetings that the Israeli cabinet’s decision to take military control of Gaza City is not a bluff. Israel is prepared to proceed with the plan if there is no progress in negotiations to reach a ceasefire and hostage-release deal, a source familiar with the meeting told the outlet.
The Israeli publication Ynet also said in a report that a private jet linked to the Mossad landed in Doha on Thursday, fueling speculation that Barnea arrived in the Qatari capital for the first time since negotiations faltered three weeks ago.
Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan last week to take control of Gaza City, which followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying hours earlier that Israel intended to take military control of the entire enclave temporarily until it can hand governance over to Arab authorities.
“We intend to control all of Gaza. We don’t want to keep it. We want a security perimeter. We ‘want to govern [Gaza]. We don’t want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand Gaza over to Arab forces that will govern [the territory] properly,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News.
“We want to liberate ourselves and liberate the people of Gaza from the awful terror of Hamas,” the Israeli premier added. “In order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance … The only way that you’re [going to] have a different future is to get rid of this neo-Nazi army. Hamas are monsters.”
Israel’s new military plan lists five objectives: disarming Hamas, returning all hostages kidnapped by the terrorist group, demilitarizing Gaza, taking security control of the territory, and establishing “an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.”
“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” Israel’s military said in a statement last week.
Many observers have argued that, while Israel appears intent on proceeding with its military plan, the announcement can also serve as a way to pressure the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, to agree to a satisfactory truce.
Israel and the United States both recalled their negotiators from Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar in late July, with US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff saying that Hamas has not been acting in good faith and “clearly shows a lack of desire” to reach a deal despite weeks of mediated discussions with the terrorist group.
Since then, there has been a renewed push for a comprehensive deal to end the war, release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, and avert an Israeli offensive. The US, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey are all reportedly involved in efforts to revive and ultimately draft a comprehensive deal.
Barnea’s visit on Thursday coincides with ongoing talks in Cairo between Hamas leaders and Egyptian officials. A Hamas delegation had visited Istanbul over the weekend and met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan for talks on Gaza.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.