CIA chief and Middle East envoy to visit region to push for hostage deal - report

Burns and McGurk's trip is part of a US move to "press on" to bring about a breakthrough in the hostage deal, the sources said. 

By WALLA!
Updated: JUNE 4, 2024 22:19
People hold banners as they take part in a rally calling for the release of hostages kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from Gaza and for support from the U.S., outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel March 10, 2024. (photo credit: CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/REUTERS)
People hold banners as they take part in a rally calling for the release of hostages kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from Gaza and for support from the U.S., outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel March 10, 2024.
(photo credit: CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/REUTERS)

CIA chief Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk are set to visit the Middle East to push for a hostage deal and a ceasefire in Gaza - according to an American official and two other sources familiar with the matter.

Why this is important 

Burns and McGurk's trip is part of a US move to "press on" with efforts to bring about a breakthrough in hostage deal negotiations, the sources said. 

Burns and McGurk’s visit to the region comes just a few days after President Biden's speech, in which he presented the Israeli proposal for a hostage deal in detail.

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency William Burns testifies at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats to American security, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 11, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson/File Photo)
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency William Burns testifies at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats to American security, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 11, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson/File Photo)

Burns is expected to arrive later on Tuesday in Doha, and on Wednesday McGurk is expected to arrive in Cairo. The two will hold talks with senior Qatari and Egyptian officials regarding the hostage deal.

Egypt and Qatar are the two main mediators in the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the hostage deal.

Egypt and Qatar have said in recent days that they are receiving positive indications from Hamas regarding President Biden's speech, but so far they have not received an official response from the organization.



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