THE Israeli intelligence chief left Dohawhile the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release negotiations continue in Qatar’s capitalhe announced representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar.

Mossad chief Davin Bernea “has left Doha,” the spokesman announced, adding that “technical teams are meeting as we speak.”

David Barnea was due to meet Qatar’s prime minister and Egyptian officials during the talks, the first to be held since negotiators failed to get a ceasefire implemented before Ramadan, which began last week across the Muslim world.

The technical teams are considering the details of a possible deal after the chief negotiators discussed the “key issues”, the spokesman clarified during a press conference.

“We are at the point where we hope that a counter-proposal will be presented to Hamas, but this will not be the last phase of the process,” Mazed al-Ansari explained.

“I don’t think we can say we are close to an agreement. We are cautiously optimistic that the negotiators have resumed talks, but it is too early to announce a successful outcome.”

Yesterday, a senior Hamas official said the organization would accept a partial Israeli withdrawal before a prisoner exchange, softening an earlier demand for a full Israeli withdrawal.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman also warned that an Israeli operation against the town of Rafah would lead to great destruction and “atrocities” unprecedented in this war.