Former Israeli Mossad intelligence head Yossi Cohen has urged Israeli officials to stop publicly criticizing Qatar, a key mediator in the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war since October 7, 2023.
In an interview with Israeli army radio on Sunday, February 4, Cohen said that Qatar is the only country that can facilitate a deal at present, stressing that criticizing it publicly by Israeli officials is wrong and they needed to act wisely.
He also called for a one-time agreement, to secure the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza Strip, Times of Israel reported.
Cohen suggested that Israel would be prepared to pay a high price for the deal, saying, “We will have to pay anyway, so let’s pay it today from the beginning for everyone’s sake.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been publicly criticizing Qatar in recent weeks.
On January 25, Qatar was appalled by remarks made by Netanyahu calling Doha’s mediation efforts as ‘problematic’.
Netanyahu indicated that he did not thank Qatar publicly because it did not exert more pressure on the Hamas movement.
In November 2023, Qatar succeeded in reaching a truce in Gaza in cooperation with Egypt and America, which lasted seven days and during which an exchange of prisoners took place between the Hamas movement and the Israeli occupation.
Qatar again playing a pivotal role in the ongoing talks to release more prisoners, as well as reaching an agreement to end the war in Gaza.
Since October 7, at least 27,365 Palestinians, primarily women and children, have been killed and more than 66,630 others injured.
