Biden sending CIA chief on mission to help broker major Gaza deal: Report

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden is sending CIA Director William Burns abroad on a mission to help broker a major deal between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel, according to a report published Thursday.

Burns is being sent to Europe in the coming days to partake in talks with a trio of regional officials, including his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts David Barnea and Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, The Washington Post newspaper reported, citing anonymous officials familiar with the plan.

The White House declined to comment on Burns' travel when pressed by reporters Thursday but said he has been "involved in helping us with the hospital that was in place and trying to help us pursue another one."

"The discussions that we're having about trying to get a renewed hostage deal in place are sober, and they're serious," said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

Egypt and Qatar have been the main interlocutors between Israel and Hamas amid the ongoing war in Gaza and have helped to broker past temporary halts to the fighting, which has killed at least 25,900 people in the coastal territory, the vast majority of whom have been women and children.

Israel has carried out a sweeping bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 in which nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

It has also sought to severely restrict the flow of international assistance to the coastal enclave, which has been under a 17-year Israeli blockade.

The deal being negotiated would entail the release of all remaining hostages in exchange for what the Post called "the longest cessation of hostilities since the war began last year." It is unclear how long that might be, but Israel most recently proposed a 60-day lull in its war in exchange for the release of all hostages, according to multiple reports.

An Israeli report published Thursday said Qatar told Israel that Hamas has suspended its participation in talks aimed at securing a prisoner swap deal, demanding a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war as a prerequisite for the release of any hostages, which would be exchanged for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Qatar did not publicly comment on the report.

The Israeli government and the US have rejected calls for a permanent cease-fire to halt the bloodshed. Israel has insisted that it will not end its war until Hamas is destroyed.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced, all of whom are food insecure, and the health system is collapsing. Hundreds of thousands are living without shelter and less than half of the number of aid trucks are entering the territory compared to before the conflict.

Aid groups, the UN and the majority of the international community have called for a cease-fire to remedy Gaza's dire humanitarian crisis.