Risk of Ceasefire Failure; Netanyahu Will Not Send Negotiation Team to Qatar

On Saturday, February 1, the Walla news agency reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided not to send his negotiation team to Qatar for discussions regarding the second phase of the ceasefire agreement and the exchange of hostages, which was supposed to begin on Monday. The Israeli media cited a senior Israeli official who described Netanyahu's decision as 'a very concerning sign' regarding the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, adding that Netanyahu prefers to decide on this matter after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. According to Walla's report, Netanyahu canceled a meeting that was supposed to take place on Saturday evening with David Barnea, the head of Mossad, Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, and Nitzan Alon, the person responsible for the hostage issue, at the last moment. He has also tasked his military secretary, Roman Gofman, to inform the negotiation team that there is currently no decision to send them to Qatar. It has also been reported that Netanyahu intends to replace David Barnea with Ron Dermer, the Minister of Strategic Affairs and one of his close associates, as the head of the negotiation team, believing that these negotiations are more diplomatic and strategic in nature than security-related. Negotiations for the second phase are set to begin on Monday, February 15. It was agreed that in this phase, all living hostages still held in the Gaza Strip would be released in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian security prisoners and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The Israeli media Walla states that delaying the negotiations is considered a violation of the ceasefire agreement's provisions.