The US made a “bridging proposal” for the number of jailed Palestinians that should be released by Israel in exchange for every hostage freed by Hamas in any new Gaza truce, an Israeli official briefed on the Qatar-hosted talks said. An Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea is in Doha for indirect negotiations with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which CIA director William Burns is helping Qatari and Egyptian officials to mediate. “During the negotiations, significant gaps came to light on the question of the ratio” of prisoners to be released for each hostage, said an Israeli official, who requested anonymity.
