Israel's Netanyahu welcomes Egypt's willingness to advance Gaza hostage deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he welcomed Egypt's willingness to advance a deal for the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu said that after there had been meetings in Cairo, which had been a mediator in Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks, he decided to send the head of the Mossad intelligence agency to Qatar to "promote a series of initiatives on the agenda".