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JERUSALEM, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Talks held on Sunday by Qatar, the United States and Egypt to negotiate a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas were "constructive" but significant gaps remain, the Israeli prime minister's office said.
"There are still important gaps that the parties will continue to discuss this week in additional mutual meetings," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns and Israel's Mossad Intelligence Service Chief David Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani , along with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, according to the statement.
He said the talks took place in Europe, without giving a specific location.
US President Joe Biden's administration has been trying to facilitate the release of the more than 100 hostages who remain captive after the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Islamist militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza.
According to Israeli officials, some 1,200 people were killed and 253 kidnapped. The attack ignited Israel's war to eliminate Hamas, unleashing a torrent of attacks in Gaza that leveled most of the enclave and killed more than 26,000 people, Palestinian health officials say.
U.S. and Israeli intelligence chiefs previously met with Qatari and Egyptian officials, helping negotiate a short-lived truce in November that allowed the release of more than 100 hostages. In exchange, Israel approved increased aid to Gaza and freed dozens of Palestinian prisoners.
(Reporting by Emily Rose Editing by Jane Merriman and Frances Kerry)
