Israel’s Mossad chief had plans this week to travel to Qatar for negotiations with Hamas, but those negotiations have been put on hold after the Israeli government abruptly canceled his trip. The visit would have been a major step forward in the long-running efforts to secure the release of two Israeli citizens held hostage by the militant group in the Gaza Strip.
According to reports, the visit was canceled after the Israeli government decided the timing was not right and that the situation had not yet reached an optimal level for successful negotiations. This adds additional frustrations to an ongoing saga that has seen two Israeli citizens held in the Gaza Strip for over five years.
The two citizens, Avera Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, were both taken captive during separate incidents in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Mengistu, an Israeli Jew, crossed into the Gaza Strip of his own accord in September 2014, while al-Sayed, an Israeli Arab, was taken captive by Hamas during an incident at the Nahal Oz checkpoint in October 2015.
The plans for the Mossad chief, Yossi Cohen, to visit Qatar, where he reportedly planned to meet with the emir and other high-level officials, had been seen as a potential development in the hostage negotiations. The Israeli government was seeking to secure the wide ranging release of both hostages as well as others, including the remains of two Israeli soldiers killed in the 2014 war with Hamas.
However, with Cohen’s visit being canceled, it remains unclear when negotiations between Israel and Hamas to secure the return of the two hostages, along with the remains of the two fallen soldiers, might resume. For their families, the continued uncertainty and lack of progress has been heartbreaking.