Israel abruptly canceled an upcoming trip to Qatar by its spy chief on Thursday, a move that adds to the growing tension between the two countries over the stalled attempts to free two Israeli civilians held by the terror group Hamas.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, had been scheduled to go to Qatar this week in a bid to kick-start negotiations on the release of Avraham Mengistu and Zechariah Baumel, who have been held by Hamas since entering the Gaza Strip illegally in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
However, the trip was called off on Thursday, with a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office citing France’s “disastrous decisions” and “regrettable” policies towards Israel and the Palestinians as the reason.
The statement added that while Israel considers “all possible options to restore the situation to its prior state, the government of Israel has decided to suspend the visit of the Mossad chief to Qatar in order to coordinate the release of captives and missing persons.”
The announcement is another sign of the strained relations between Israel and Qatar, which have been exacerbated in recent months by the mediation role Qatar has assumed in trying to jump-start stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
Qatar is the main financier of Hamas, and has been instrumental in maintaining the fragile ceasefire between Israel and the terror organization, much to the chagrin of the Israeli government.
The two civilians held by Hamas – Mengistu and Baumel – are believed to be mentally unstable, and their families have intensified their appeals to have them released from Hamas captivity.
Israel has accused Hamas of having “blood on its hands” in the case, though the terror group insists that it is not holding any Israeli captives and that both Mengistu and Baumel have simply chosen to stay in the Gaza Strip.
It remains to be seen how the cancellation of the visit from Cohen will ultimately affect the prospects for the release of the two Israelis, or for the bridging of the growing rift between Jerusalem and Doha.
