Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in 2025 to maintain a direct channel with Hamas officials abroad in an effort to advance the hostage deal, according to reports aired Thursday evening by Israel’s Channel 12 and Channel 13.
A separate report by journalist Ben Caspit said Netanyahu had also operated a secret channel to a senior Hamas official during the 2014 Gaza war, using a businessman close to him as an intermediary.
Netanyahu’s office strongly denied both reports.
According to the reports on the 2025 contacts, Bar communicated directly with Hamas officials abroad with Netanyahu’s approval as negotiations over the hostage deal stalled ahead of its planned second phase in January 2025.
The channel bypassed Qatar, one of the main mediators in negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
The contacts, according to the reports, produced a breakthrough that ended a deadlock dating back to mid-2024 and helped pave the way for the release of hostages.
Bar reportedly informed Cabinet ministers about the channel during 2025, but the information was barred from publication by Israel’s military censor until Thursday, when permission to report it was unexpectedly granted.
Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad
(Photo: REUTERS/Amr Alfiky)
At the same time, Caspit reported that Netanyahu had operated a separate covert channel with senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
According to that report, businessman Shlomi Fogel, who was close to Netanyahu, served as the intermediary and spoke directly with Hamad.
Netanyahu was said to have determined the messages and negotiating line conveyed through the channel.
The contacts reportedly took place alongside formal negotiations being conducted at the time by an Israeli delegation in Cairo.
According to the report, elements of Israel’s security establishment were unaware of the separate channel while it was operating.
Netanyahu’s office rejected the reports in categorical terms.
Responding to the account of the 2025 contacts, the Prime Minister’s Office said: “A complete lie. The prime minister refused to conduct negotiations directly with Hamas, which were conducted only through the mediators.”
Regarding the 2014 report, Netanyahu’s office said: “It never happened. Prime Minister Netanyahu never approved such contacts. These are false briefings by political elements trying to harm the prime minister.”
Fogel also denied the account concerning the 2014 channel.