The deputy head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate’s Research Division, Col. A., told Knesset members Wednesday in a classified briefing to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel believes Qatar wants to return to mediating negotiations for the release of hostages and an end to the war.
She said Egypt and Turkey are also interested in assisting with the talks, which have seen no progress since the Israeli strike in Doha on Sept. 9.
Gazans fleeing south
(Video: Reuters)
Col. A. noted that before the strike against senior Hamas figures in Doha, the assumption had been that Qatar would no longer wish to host members of the terror group, which could have affected negotiations.
Regarding the IDF ground maneuver in Gaza City, she said intelligence assessments indicate that about 7,500 terrorists remain there — roughly 5,000 from Hamas and 2,500 from Palestinian Islamic Jihad. That number likely includes lower-level operatives, such as teenagers tasked with observing Israeli forces.
According to her, Hamas is currently recruiting manpower, rebuilding tunnels, studying past battles and preparing explosives. “Hamas is preparing for prolonged fighting in Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip,” she said.
A representative of the National Security Council, identified only as D., told lawmakers that “by Oct. 6 only the encirclement of the city and evacuation of its population will be completed,” meaning full control of Gaza City will begin only afterward. He said the operation would take the form of raids, and that the IDF estimates fighting in the city will last several months.
Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Razi Hamed appeared Wednesday for the first time on Al Jazeera since surviving the Israeli strike in Doha. He was one of the targets in that attack, along with another official, Taher al-Nunu. Hamed claimed, “We were in a meeting with the negotiation delegation and some advisers. Less than an hour after we began discussing the American proposal we had received, we heard massive explosions. We immediately realized it was an Israeli strike. About 12 missiles hit in less than a minute. By Allah’s grace, we survived.”
Negotiations have been stalled since the Doha strike, after a new U.S.-backed proposal was cut short. In the meantime, Israeli airstrikes and evacuations in Gaza City continue. The United Nations said Wednesday it was “deeply concerned” that food supplies were running out in the northern part of the city, warning that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians “have already experienced hunger” since Israel shut the sole crossing into the area last week.
IDF forces in Gaza City
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The IDF said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited the Air Force base in Palmachim on Wednesday, flew with Squadron 124, met air crews, technicians, air defense fighters and drone operators, and thanked them for their efforts. “The defense and offensive support you have provided since the beginning of the war — in firepower and in rescuing ground forces — saves lives,” Zamir told them. “As our troops enter Gaza City, you serve as another set of eyes for the fighters on the ground. That is the key to their success.”
Despite the mass displacement, hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents remain in shelters in the city after ignoring IDF warnings about the fighting. Alongside them, about half of the living Israeli hostages are believed to still be held inside Gaza City.
Protesters outside Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem
(Video: Gil Yohanan, Idan Blomohof, Hostage and Missing Families Forum)
Against this backdrop, hostage families have renewed appeals to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward with a deal to bring their loved ones home. The IDF has acknowledged the military operation endangers the hostages’ lives. Some relatives protested Wednesday night outside Netanyahu’s residence on Gaza Street in Jerusalem. Anat, the mother of hostage Matan Angrest, even called on Netanyahu’s wife Sara to come outside to meet her — a request that went unanswered.
“As a mother to a mother — come down to me. Show humanity,” Anat wrote. “I want to tell you about my Matan and about all 48 of the hostages. I believe you have influence over your husband that could help bring them home. I am here, waiting for your answer.”