CIA director William Burns will meet the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha on Wednesday for hostage deal negotiations, sources familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday evening.
The two will discuss progress towards a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, a source knowledgeable with the matter told Reuters.
The CIA declined to offer comments to the press on the reported meeting.
Deal finished soon?
Burn's announced meeting comes in the midst of reports that a Gaza hostage deal could be finished in a month, according to reporting from The Jerusalem Post.
Brett McGurk, the Biden administration’s coordinator for the Middle East and Adam Boehler, President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy for hostage affairs, had conversations regarding a hostage deal on Tuesday amidst their travels in the region.
Sources have told the Post that Hamas has asked for guarantees that Trump will not allow Israel to resume operations in Gaza immediately after the first stage of the deal is finished. The first stage would end in less than 60 days, which would be after Trump's inauguration on January 20.
Israel has previously stated it would refuse any guarantees to this effect.
The Post reported that Hamas believes that with Trump's statements on the matter, a deal must be reached before he assumes office. As such, Hamas appears to be attempting to negotiate any guarantees.