Reports made public on Aug. 27, 2026, alleged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved direct or indirect communication channels with Hamas during negotiations in 2025 and during the Gaza war in 2014. Netanyahu's office denied both accounts, and a businessman named as an intermediary in the earlier episode also rejected the allegation.
The two claims concern separate periods and different methods of contact. According to reports aired by Israel's Channel 12 and Channel 13 and summarized by Ynetnews, Netanyahu authorized Ronen Bar, then the head of the Shin Bet security service, to communicate directly with Hamas officials abroad in 2025. The reported purpose was to advance negotiations over a hostage deal.
Those accounts said the channel began as talks stalled ahead of a planned second phase in January 2025. It reportedly bypassed Qatar, which was acting as a mediator between Israel and Hamas. The reports attributed to the channel a breakthrough that ended a deadlock dating to the middle of 2024 and helped clear a path for hostage releases.
Bar reportedly informed Cabinet ministers about the contacts during 2025. According to the same coverage, information about the channel was kept from publication by Israel's military censor until permission to report it was granted on Aug. 27.
A separate account by journalist Ben Caspit focused on the 2014 Gaza war, also known as Operation Protective Edge. Caspit reported that Netanyahu used businessman Shlomi Fogel to carry messages to Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official. The account said Fogel spoke directly with Hamad while Netanyahu set the messages and negotiating position conveyed through the channel.
The alleged 2014 contacts were said to have occurred alongside formal negotiations conducted by an Israeli delegation in Cairo. Caspit's report further alleged that parts of Israel's security establishment did not know the separate channel was operating at the time.
The Prime Minister's Office disputed the descriptions in categorical terms. On the 2025 claim, it said Netanyahu had refused direct negotiations with Hamas and that talks were handled only through mediators. On the 2014 allegation, the office said the channel never existed, Netanyahu never authorized such contacts, and the account came from political actors seeking to damage him. Fogel likewise denied playing the role attributed to him.
The available report presents the media allegations and the denials but does not independently establish which account is correct. The central claims therefore remain contested. It is also important to distinguish the two episodes: the 2025 allegation concerns direct communication by the Shin Bet chief with Hamas officials abroad, while the 2014 allegation concerns messages reportedly carried by a private intermediary to one named Hamas official.
