🔶 Israel TV report on a secret channel between Israel and Hamas

🔶 Israel TV report on a secret channel between Israel and Hamas

Israel TV published fresh details about a direct communication channel between Israel and Hamas during the Gaza war; a channel that was formed after the killing of 6 Israeli hostages in August 2024 and continued until early 2025.

According to Channel 12 Israel, this communication channel was created in August 2024; shortly after Hamas forces killed the 6 Israeli hostages who had been abducted in the October 2023 attack in a tunnel in Gaza. The incident occurred while Israeli forces were approaching the place where the hostages were being held.

According to the report, after the incident, serious dissatisfaction formed within Israel’s security establishment, and officials concluded that relying on Egyptian and Qatari mediators was not enough and that a direct communication channel with Hamas had to be established.

Channel 12 reported that this communication was established between a senior Shin Bet official, on behalf of Ronen Bar, who was the head of the organization at the time, and Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official. The report did not explain how the two sides initiated direct contact.

Based on the report, the channel was created with the approval of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and Khalil al-Hayya, one of Hamas’s leaders. At the time, al-Hayya was the deputy of Yahya Sinwar, the then head of Hamas.

According to Channel 12, the contacts were conducted only by phone, and the two sides spoke with each other dozens of times. Ronen Bar also listened to these calls live. An informed source said that the channel was used to neutralize many of the “political and negotiation mines” in the process of hostage-related talks.

According to the report, the talks sometimes turned into verbal disputes, with the two sides arguing over the names of the individuals to be exchanged. Israel also told Hamas in these calls which Palestinian security prisoners it would not release under any circumstances.

An informed source told Channel 12 that the direct Shin Bet channel was also necessary to get around obstacles that Qatar was creating. He claimed that Qatar “did not deliver the required outcome” and became a disruptive element.

According to the report, during the war, Shin Bet and Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence organization, had disagreements about the route of mediation. Shin Bet preferred Egypt, but Mossad emphasized Qatar’s role—a country that hosted Hamas leaders and was considered one of the main supporters of that group in Gaza.

The aware source said that this direct channel played a central role in bringing Hamas to the agreement reached in January 2025.

Within the framework of that agreement, dozens of living and killed hostages were released in several stages. In return, humanitarian aid to Gaza increased, and more than a thousand Palestinian security prisoners were released from Israeli prisons. The source said: “Steve Witkoff brought Netanyahu along. We brought Hamas along.”

He referred to the role of Donald Trump’s special envoy, who at the time was said to have brought Netanyahu closer to accepting the deal after a tense meeting in Jerusalem.

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