CIA director arrives in Qatar for hostage release talks
William J. Burns, the director of the CIA, arrived in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday for a new round of negotiations aimed at freeing more hostages held in Gaza, US officials said.
Mr Burns and David Barnea, the head of Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, will meet with Qatari officials. Qatar, where Hamas’s political leadership is based in Doha, has been a mediator in the talks between Israel and Hamas.
Qatar announced on Monday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to extend the pause in fighting for two additional days to exchange more hostages and prisoners and allow more aid to reach Gaza.
A US official said Mr Burns’ talks in Qatar would be aimed at building on that agreement.
US officials have been deeply involved in pushing for an agreement to release hostages taken during the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. Mr. Burns traveled to Doha on Nov. 9, where he and Mr. Barnea held talks with Qatari officials who have been working on the issue.
Hamas and Israel finally reached an agreement on November 21, and exchanges began later that week. During the first four days of the ceasefire, 50 Israelis or dual nationals were released under the agreement, and another 19 hostages – 17 Thai, one Filipino and one Russian-Israeli dual national – were released through separate negotiations. In exchange for the release of Israelis and dual nationals, Israel has halted its military campaign in Gaza, allowed more aid to flow into the enclave and released some Palestinian prisoners.
Some U.S. officials have expressed hope that the temporary pause could be extended to some kind of permanent ceasefire, though Israeli officials have said their military campaign must continue.
A CIA spokeswoman said the agency does not comment on the director’s travels.
Israel is concerned that some of the releases of Hamas hostages have separated children from their mothers or separated siblings. During the talks this month, Israeli officials pushed for Hamas to release entire families and stressed to U.S. officials last weekend that they did not believe Hamas was keeping its end of the bargain.
These concerns were sufficiently addressed on Monday for the pause to be extended and the parties to agree to additional talks in Doha.
Mr. Burns was chosen to represent the United States in the hostage talks after Israel selected Mr. Barnea to work with the Qatari government to broker a deal. Neither Mr. Burns nor Mr. Barnea have negotiated directly with Hamas officials, working instead through Qatari intermediaries.
President Biden has often used Mr. Burns as a secret negotiator, taking advantage of his long diplomatic experience and the CIA’s policy of keeping the director’s trip secret.
But Mr. Burns is uniquely suited to the current negotiations. As a former ambassador to Jordan, he has great confidence among leaders in the Middle East, according to American, Israeli and Arab officials. During his visits to Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Qatar earlier this month, he focused largely on building support for an agreement to release hostages.