Qatar PM to meet Israel, US intel chiefs on new Gaza captives deal
Al Jazeera
CIA, Mossad heads to meet in Europe with Qatar officials to broker second captives-for-prisoners exchange and truce.
The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and his Israeli counterpart are to meet with Qatari officials to broker a potential second deal to secure the release of captives being held in Gaza and a pause in hostilities.
The CIA’s William Burns and Mossad chief David Barnea will meet with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe over the weekend, sources informed on the talks told Al Jazeera.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has been actively working to secure the release of about 130 captives still being held by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.
Any new agreement between Israel and Hamas would also aim to bring about the longest cessation of hostilities since the war erupted in October, officials told The Washington Post, which first reported Burns’s travel.
Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will also join the meeting.