Israeli war cabinet to send team to Gaza truce talks in Paris

The Israeli war cabinet on Thursday voted to dispatch a delegation to Paris for high-level talks on a hostage deal and accompanying truce in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The decision comes after reports indicated Hamas has demonstrated a degree of flexibility in contacts on the terms of a framework deal and as the United States presses for an agreement.

The delegation will hold talks with CIA director Bill Burns, the Qatari prime minister and the Egyptian spy chief.

The decision follows external pressure from the Biden administration and internal pressure from some members of Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet and the leadership of Israel's defense establishment and intelligence community.

Brett McGurk, U.S. President Joe Biden's top Middle East adviser, urged Israeli officials earlier Thursday to send a delegation to actively negotiate, saying some progress has been made with Hamas.

The hostage deal the Biden administration is pushing would lead to at least a six-week pause in fighting.

Biden administration officials say they want to try and get a deal before the start of Ramadan in less than three weeks.

The main sticking point between Israel and Hamas centers on differences over the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released and how the list will be determined for the first stage of what could be a three-phase deal.

Netanyahu has taken a tough line in the talks, instructing negotiators earlier this month to be in listen-only mode. He later refused to send a delegation for follow-up talks.

The Israeli war cabinet on Thursday "approved sending the delegation and also gave negotiators a mandate to negotiate and not only listen like in the previous round of talks," an Israeli official said, according to U.S. news portal Axios.