Israel has canceled a planned trip to Qatar by the head of its foreign intelligence service to restart talks on a possible second hostage release deal, a source familiar with the negotiations confirmed to CNN.
Mossad director David Barnea will not travel to the Qatari capital Doha, where previous talks on the release of hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza have taken place, the source said.
Israel’s Channel 13 first reported Wednesday that the Israeli war cabinet, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had called off the trip and that senior Israeli officials would not go to Qatar to restart negotiations.
CNN has reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office about Barnea’s canceled trip. The Mossad answers directly to the Prime Minister.
Around 240 people, from infants to octogenarians, were taken hostage during Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7. Dozens have been freed but many more remain missing, presumed to be held by the Palestinian militant organization and other groups in Gaza, following the breakdown of a temporary truce last month.
The Israeli prime minister’s office believes 135 hostages remain in Gaza, 116 of whom are alive.
Formal negotiations have not resumed since hostage talks that had been taking place in Doha broke down earlier this month.
But Israel, the United States and Qatar have continued to discuss ways to try to jump start the discussions, multiple sources said. “We never stopped,” one source familiar with the talks said.
Families of some of the Israeli hostages were outraged by the decision to cancel Barnea’s trip and demanded answers. “We are fed up with the indifference and deadlock,” they said in a statement.
“The families were shocked by the report on the rejection of the Director of Mossad’s request to formulate an agreement for the release of the hostages,” the statement added. “This announcement comes in addition to the ignoring of the parents’ request to meet with the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, which have not yet been answered.”
Tamar Michaelis, Kaitlan Collins, and Katie Bo Lillis contributed to this report.