The Prime Minister's Office announced that in light of the response Hamas gave this morning (Thursday) to the mediators' proposal for a ceasefire agreement and the release of hostages, it was decided to return the Israeli negotiating team from Doha for continued consultations.
The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement: "In light of the response Hamas gave this morning, it was decided to return the negotiating team to continue consultations in Israel."
The bureau also stated, "We appreciate the efforts of mediators Qatar and Egypt and the efforts of envoy Witkoff to bring about a breakthrough in the talks."
Channel 14 reported that the move comes following the response of the Hamas terrorist organization to the ceasefire proposal, which, according to political sources, constitutes a de facto rejection of an Israeli proposal with significant concessions.
A political source told Channel 14 that reports that the Israeli delegation returned to Israel "to make difficult decisions" are baseless.
He said, "This is the chatter of leakers with vested interests - the real reason for the delegation's return is the illusory response that Hamas gave to the Israeli proposal."
Israel Hayom also reported that the IDF is preparing to expand the maneuver in Gaza in light of the terrorist organization's problematic response.
A source familiar with the details told Israel Hayom that "the delegation's return does not indicate a positive development, quite the opposite. Hamas is raising difficulties and the prime minister has requested the delegation's return for consultations."
The update message received by the families of the kidnapped from Gal Hirsch stated:
Following Hamas' response that was delivered to us early this morning, and after examining its details in recent hours, it was agreed that the negotiation team will return to Israel for consultations. The talks are continuing and will also continue from Israel. The team's return is intended to provide advice on how to narrow the gaps in the negotiations.
The negotiation team has been working in Doha for 18 days, and during this extended period we have come a long way in order to make progress.
In the face of many difficulties that Hamas has posed and continues to pose, we have continuously and resolutely exhausted every chance and every possibility of reaching an agreement, and we will continue to do so.
We continue to operate under the same spirit and the same guidance to return all of our hostages home, both living and dead. We will add and update as soon as possible.
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