News platform Axios on Friday reported that the director of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, David Barnea, was due to meet this weekend in Europe with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

According to AFP, Axios said the officials would discuss resuming negotiations for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.

The White House called the incident of Israeli troops mistakenly killing three hostages a “tragic mistake”.

In Tel Aviv, relatives of hostages called on the government to reach an accord to allow more people to be freed. “I am dying of fear,” said Merav Svirsky, sister of Hamas-held hostage Itay Svirsky. “We demand a deal now.”

In November, a short-lived truce agreement mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States saw more than 100 hostages freed in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.