CIA Director Bill Burns will make a last-ditch effort to close a peace-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas in the next few days, The Washington Post reports, citing unidentified officials familiar with the spy chief's travel plans.
Burns is expected to travel to Europe for the talks and meet with the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs, David Barnea and Abbas Kamel, as well as Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.Hamas has rejected every Israeli ceasefire offer since the end of November, saying it will only release the 100 or so hostages it still holds in Gaza if Israel agrees to a permanent cessation of hostilities. Israel had reportedly proposed a 90-day ceasefire with a comprehensive exchange of Hamas’ hostages for several thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
That offer, last week, broke down when Israel said it would make no promises to end the fighting after the ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly that Israel will continue its war in Gaza until Hamas is eliminated as a political and military force.
Israel has also demanded that surviving Hamas leaders leave Gaza for asylum in a third country.
Talks also appeared to have hit a setback when Netanyahu, in a meeting with families of hostages held by Hamas, said Qatar’s role in the mediation was “problematic.” Qatar, a key mediator that also has deep ties to the militant group and hosts some of its exiled leaders, said Netanyahu’s remarks were “irresponsible and destructive.”
“Everybody wants peace — the Palestinians, Hamas, and the Israelis. But everybody wants to win in the negotiations,” Samir Farag, a former Egyptian general and defense official, told the Post. “We are trying to reach a middle ground.”
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Hamas’s possession of the hostages puts the group “in a very strong position,” Farag said.
“I think Netanyahu is under pressure, because the street in Israel, everybody wants to release the hostages,” he added.