Israel: Mossad, CIA chiefs met to 'advance' another hostage release deal

 Israel said its spy chief had met with his US counterpart as part of efforts to secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza.

"The head of the Mossad, David Barnea, met yesterday (Friday) with the head of the CIA, Bill Burns, as part of the ceaseless efforts to advance another hostage release deal," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on behalf of the Mossad on Saturday

The statement came as mediators scrambled to secure a new truce in Israel's five-month-old war in Gaza before Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month which could begin as early as Sunday, depending on the lunar calendar.

Israel did not send a delegation to the latest round of truce talks in Cairo, and Hamas left on Thursday after expressing frustration with Israel's positions, heading to Qatar for consultation with the movement's leadership.

The Israeli statement did not specify where Friday's meeting between Barnea and Burns took place.

US President Joe Biden warned this week that, without a truce before Ramadan, "Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous."

The Al Aqsa mosque compound in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem has been a flashpoint for violence during Ramadan in past years.

Netanyahu's government faces enormous domestic political pressure to bring hostages home.

Hamas took about 250 people captive in the October 7 attack after which Israel's war on Gaza started, some of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes 99 hostages remain alive in Gaza and that 31 have died in the bombardments.

"It should be noted that contacts and cooperation with the mediators are continuing all the time in an attempt to bring a reduction of the differences and advance agreements," Saturday's Israeli statement said.

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Source: TRT