Efforts to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and broker a prolonged pause in fighting are at an important juncture as President Joe Biden deploys his point person on hostage talks to Europe for multiparty talks on the contours of a possible agreement.
CIA Director Bill Burns’ meetings over the coming days with the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs and the Qatari prime minister are a sign of ongoing progress as the White House presses for a deal.
Whether they prove decisive in striking an agreement remains to be seen, and officials voiced caution that discussions so far have been volatile, and that hurdles remain in coming to a deal that all sides can agree on.
The talks are the latest in a spate of recent diplomatic efforts to free the more than 100 remaining hostages while moving toward a more prolonged cessation of hostilities. The flurry of activity amounts to the most intensive effort in months to strike an agreement that could significantly alter the trajectory of the war in Gaza.
Brett McGurk, a top aide to Biden, engaged in “serious and sober” talks over the past week with officials in Egypt and Qatar about a potential hostage deal that would be paired with a break in fighting. Officials described the meetings as productive but the White House said the talks stopped short of “negotiations.”
Burns’s meetings with Mossad director David Barnea, Egyptian intelligence director Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani are expected to occur over the coming days. The CIA declined to comment on his travel.
Burns and Barnea were central to a November agreement that resulted in a week-long pause in fighting in exchange for the release of more than 100 hostages.
US officials are now hopeful for a much longer cessation in the fighting, believing it could provide space for more…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply