An Israeli delegation heads to Rome for the next phase of hostage deal negotiations which are likely to be tense following Hezbollah’s deadly rocket attack on Saturday that killed 12 Druze children in the Golan Heights.
The Israeli delegation is headed by Mossad Chief David Barnea, who will discuss the situation with Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani, Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel, and CIA Director Bill Burns.
Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar and the IDF’s Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons, Nitzan Alon will not be attending.
The purpose of the negotiations is to lay a framework for the release of the hostages, but in the climate of the recent Hezbollah attack, as well as the Israeli Prime Minister’s emphatic demands that Hamas not return to northern Gaza and that Israel should maintain control of the Philadelphi corridor, demands Hamas as rejected, the Israeli delegation is not optimistic.
Ynet reported that sources within the Israeli negotiating team indicate they may present an earlier form of the deal without adding Netanyahu’s renewed demands.
