Israeli negotiating team leaves Cairo amid disagreements with Netanyahu

JERUSALEM

An Israeli negotiating team left Cairo and returned to Tel Aviv shortly after arriving Saturday to resume discussions on a hostage swap deal with Palestinian factions, according to media reports.

The team, which included Mossad spy agency chief David Barnea; Shin Bet security agency head Ronen Bar and the government's coordinator of operations in the Palestinian territories, Ghassan Alian, returned to Tel Aviv because of disagreements with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

There has been no statement from Netanyahu's office as of yet about the report.

“The departure of the delegation to Cairo is the result of heavy American pressure on Israel and Egypt in recent days to continue negotiations on the hostage deal despite the assassination of the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh,” Israeli news website Walla said earlier, quoting unnamed sources.

Haniyeh was assassinated Wednesday in the Iranian capital of Tehran. While Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for the killing, Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied responsibility.

The killing came hours after Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut.

Hamas and Iran have vowed to retaliate for Haniyeh's assassination, while Hezbollah pledged to respond to Shukr's killing.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala