CIA Director William Burns is scheduled to travel to Cairo next Tuesday for further hostage negotiations after Hamas submitted a new set of conditions to the Qatari government several days ago, people familiar with the matter said. A source confirmed to CBS News.
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani will also be in attendance.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in public rejected Hamas's latest counter-proposal Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it “delusional” in a fiery press conference on Wednesday, saying the response contained some shortcomings but also provided “room” for a final deal. Stated.
Burns was selected by the Biden administration to lead the U.S. effort on hostage negotiations. met Late last month, in Paris, he met with Sheikh Mohammed, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, Israeli Mossad director David Barnea, and others, and agreed to release about 130 hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for a long-term suspension of operations. We have compiled a list of proposals including: In combat. Officials from Israel's internal security agency, Shin Bet, also attended the meeting.
It is not immediately clear whether all the same participants will reconvene in Cairo. The CIA declined to comment on Burns' travel.
This will be Burns' fifth meeting, and he also participated in negotiations with the Mossad chief and the Qatari prime minister in Poland. During Decemberand Two degrees traveled In November, I went to Doha, Qatar, and the first and only agreement was signed.
The agreement freed more than 100 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and halted seven days of fighting.
In its latest counteroffer, Hamas outlined the gradual release of various categories of hostages in exchange for a 45-day cessation of fighting and the eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The group also called for the release of Palestinian prisoners of war from Israeli prisons and an influx of new aid and efforts to rebuild Gaza.
The text of the counterproposal was handed over to the Qatari government about an hour before Blinken met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday, who passed it on to the U.S. delegation. At a joint press conference on Tuesday, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the response was “generally positive.”
President Biden later spoke in Washington, calling it “a little bit of a stretch,” without giving details.
