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William J. Burns, director of the CIA, was expected to arrive in Doha, Qatar, this week for talks with regional officials about achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the The journey of the spymaster.
The trip by Burns, the top U.S. negotiator, to the Gulf country comes amid a renewed effort to negotiate a deal to stop the fighting and free hostages in Gaza after months of failed attempts. Brett McGurk, White House Middle East coordinator, was also returning to the region this week for meetings in Cairo, a second U.S. official said.
A speech by President Biden last week in which he outlined the terms of what he said was a new Israeli offer raised hopes among Israelis and Palestinians that a deal to stop the nearly eight-month war was finally imminent. But statements from Israeli and Hamas officials in recent days suggested that a breakthrough was still elusive.
One of the biggest differences between Israel and Hamas has been whether a ceasefire agreement would lead to a lasting truce. Biden said Israel’s proposal would ultimately lead to the “permanent cessation of hostilities,” comments that were welcomed by Hamas. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to end the war without first destroying Hamas’s military and governance capabilities.
Qatar, the main mediator between the two sides, is “waiting for a clear Israeli position representing the entire government,” a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, Majed al-Ansari, said Tuesday.
Burns’ meetings in Doha were not expected to yield much progress, said a person briefed on the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate diplomacy. Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader in Gaza and alleged mastermind of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in southern Israel, had yet to weigh in on the latest proposal, the person briefed on the negotiations said.
The first phase of the proposal presented by Biden called for both sides to observe a temporary six-week ceasefire, while they continued negotiating to reach a permanent one.
At a news conference Tuesday, Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said the most recent Israeli position communicated to the group did not include a permanent ceasefire or a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, terms that Hamas has insisted on. . . Israel, Hamdan said, was only interested in a temporary ceasefire to free the hostages and then it would resume the war.
He said Hamas had informed mediators that the group could not approve an agreement that did not provide for a permanent ceasefire, a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and a “serious and real agreement” to exchange Palestinian prisoners for hostages.
“We ask the mediators to obtain a clear position from the Israeli occupation,” he said.