Negotiations for a hostage release deal will resume next week after Mossad chief David Barnea and CIA chief William Burns met in Paris and discussed an infrastructure to be put in place, that would allow the talks to begin anew and advance.
After talks ended without a breakthrough Qatar warned they were nearing a stalemate after the IDF began its offensive on Rafah. Qatar also said that it was considering ending its role as mediator after criticizm in Israel that the Gulf nation was not applying sufficient pressure on Hamas to accept the proposal of mediators.
The government came under increased pressure from the families of hostages after the release of a clip filmed by Hamas terrorists on October 7 showed the abduction and abuse of Israeli female soldiers captured in their base at Nahal Oz.
The families demanded that the cabinet move urgently to bring about the release of the young women whom they feared had been suffering sexual violence from their captors.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came under fire for limiting the authority of Israel's negotiating team and allotting little or no time in recent weeks, to the plight of the hostages held since the Hamas massacre.
On Friday, the IDF said it had found and retrieved the bodies of three more hostages from Gaza after four other bodies were returned to Israel earlier in the week.