CIA Director William Burns travels to Qatar to meet with his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts for hostage talks amid an extended ceasefire in Gaza with the Hamas militant group.
Burns was joined by David Barnea to meet with the head of the Mossad intelligence service to talk with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on Tuesday. It came a day after Doha announced the extension of an original four-day humanitarian pause in Gaza by two days.
William Burns Travels to Qatar
In a statement, Aljazeera diplomatic editor James Bays said that the fact that intelligence chiefs were gathering to talk with the Qatari prime minister is interesting. He explained that this is because they got the intelligence picture but also because it seems like the U.S. is leading the effort.
Bays noted that Burns is "more experienced a negotiator than Antony Blinken," the U.S. secretary of state. Israel and the Hamas militant group have blamed each other for violating the original truce but have continued to exchange prisoners, as per Aljazeera.
A spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed al-Ansari said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that 30 Palestinian prisoners are set to be released next. Qatar on Monday said that a humanitarian pause in fighting between the two sides would be extended, hours before the expiration of the truce.
Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have engaged in intense negotiations in order to establish and prolong the ceasefire in Gaza. During the period of the original truce, Hamas released a total of 69 prisoners, 51 of whom were Israelis while the other 18 were from other countries.
In exchange, Israel released 150 Palestinian prisoners, including 117 children and 33 women, and allowed more humanitarian aid to enter the war-torn region. The talks between the U.S. and Israeli intelligence chiefs and Qatar were also attended by Egyptian officials.
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Discussions About Hostages
Burns' trip to Qatar would have him push for the talks to expand and include the men who are currently being held captive in addition to male and female Israeli soldiers. Israeli officials have also publicly acknowledged that it would cost more to get Israeli men and soldiers home, according to CNN.
Under the current ceasefire agreement, three Palestinian prisoners are released for every one hostage that Hamas sets free. Burns' diplomatic trip comes as Americans are still being held hostage by the militant group, which includes two American women who are eligible for release under the current truce.
On Sunday, four-year-old Abigail Edan, an American dual citizen who was abducted during Hamas' initial attack on Israel on Oct. 7, was released. It marked the first successful release of an American hostage since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Burns, who was the former ambassador to Jordan, previously traveled to Qatar on Nov. 9 to help reinvigorate faltering discussions alongside Barnea and the Qatari prime minister. The first deal was announced by the Qatari government on Nov. 21 and was the first time that Gaza was at relative peace since Oct. 7, said CBS News.
