Top US diplomat for Middle East travels to region for Gaza cease-fire talks

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) – US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf is traveling to the Middle East from July 8-14 to discuss a cease-fire agreement in Gaza, the State Department said Monday.

Leaf will visit the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the West Bank and Italy.

"The Assistant Secretary will meet with government officials on continued diplomatic efforts to achieve a cease-fire agreement, secure the release of all hostages, and ensure humanitarian assistance is distributed throughout Gaza," said the State Department.

"She will also have further discussions on the post-conflict period in a way that builds lasting peace and security," it added.

Meanwhile, Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security services, and CIA Director William Burns arrived in Egypt on Monday for talks on a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

Israeli media also reported that the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, David Barnea, will travel to Qatar on Wednesday to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, CIA director Burns and Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.

For months, efforts by the US, Qatar and Egypt to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for a hostage exchange and cease-fire have been hampered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of Hamas' call to halt hostilities.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 38,200 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.