Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to hint on Saturday that new negotiations were underway to recover hostages held by Hamas, after his chief of Mossad intelligence met the prime minister of Qatar, a country mediating with Hamas.
In a news conference, Netanyahu said Israel's offensive in Gaza helped clinch a partial hostage-release deal in November. "The instruction I am giving the negotiating team is predicated on this pressure, without which we have nothing," he said.