Posted on 10/21/24
| News Source: Times of Israel
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar visited Cairo on Sunday to discuss the attempted revival of hostage deal negotiations after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza last week, an Israeli official told the Times of Israel.
Sinwar, who was seen as a major obstacle to a hostage deal, was killed Wednesday in an encounter with IDF troops operating in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
His death has sparked hopes of a renewed opportunity to revitalize the long-stalled negotiations for the release of 101 hostages held by Hamas and for an end to the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian terror group that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble over the past 12 months.
Bar met with Egypt’s newly appointed intelligence chief, Hassan Rashad, Channel 12 reported, after his predecessor Abbas Kamel was abruptly reassigned last week to serve as a special adviser to President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.
Bar was said to have last met with Kamel to discuss stalled hostage negotiations on October 14, before Sinwar was killed. According to reports at the time, the meeting did not lead to any breakthroughs.