TEL AVIV, January 28. /TASS/. The Israeli prime minister’s office has described a meeting between Egyptian, Israeli, US intelligence chiefs and the Qatari prime minister on the situation in the Gaza Strip as constructive, despite outstanding differences.

"The meeting was constructive," it said, adding that the sides will continue discussing outstanding differences during additional consultations in the coming week.

The meeting was attended by Mossad chief David Barnea, Shabak (Israeli Security Agency) director Ronen Bar, Major General in reserve Nitzan Alon, CIA director Willian Burns, the Qatari prime minister, and Egyptian minister of intelligence.

France Presse reported earlier that Burns had met with representatives from Egypt, Israel, and Qatar in Paris to continue consultations on a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in exchange for the release of hostages who are being held in the Gaza Strip.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

In late November 2023, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24. The deal stipulated the release of Israeli women and children being held hostage in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.The sides extended the ceasefire several times but on the morning of December 1 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip.

During the week-long humanitarian pause, according to the Israeli authorities, 110 hostages held in Gaza since October 7 were released. However, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as many as 136 people are still held hostage.