Israel’s war cabinet agrees to send a negotiating team to Paris for hostage talks

Israel’s war cabinet agreed to send a negotiating team, led by Mossad Director David Barnea, to Paris on Friday to pursue talks over a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal, an Israeli official said.

The negotiating team is expected to be empowered to engage in substantive negotiations rather than simply listening to proposals as they did during meetings in Cairo last week, the official said.

The full Israeli cabinet is expected to vote on the matter overnight to give final approval for the trip.

The decision came during a war cabinet meeting Thursday night, at the end of a day that saw President Joe Biden’s Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk meeting with top Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli official said that the Israeli government was waiting for confirmation that the medication had reached the hostages in Gaza before agreeing to return to the negotiating table.

That proof, combined with positive indications from talks in Cairo on Wednesday and prodding from US officials, ultimately triggered the Israeli agreement to send a negotiating team to Paris.

This is a developing story and will be updated.