CIA chief proposed 28-day Gaza ceasefire and captive deal: Report
CIA Director Bill Burns proposed the ceasefire in return for the freeing of about eight captives held in Gaza and the release of dozens of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, the Axios news site reports.
Burns made the proposal during a meeting on Sunday with Israeli and Qatari counterparts, Axios reports, citing three Israeli officials. The proposal, however, does not address Hamas’s central ceasefire demand that Israel end its war on Gaza and withdraw in exchange for the release of captives.
“Israel agrees to a temporary pause, but Hamas wants a pause that would open a process that would lead to irreversible Israeli steps. If neither side softens its position, there isn’t going to be a deal,” a senior Israeli official tells Axios.
A pause is not a ceasefire... Netanyahu has no intentions of stopping the destruction and displacement in Gaza. Israel just banned UNWRA, making aid deliveries even a lot harder than they are now. Hamas has no intentions on accepting ongoing occupation. Civilians continue to suffer.
Israel says it is open to a limited truce
Prime Minister Netanyahu has stated that he is not against a temporary ceasefire, a very limited one.
What we have seen throughout the Israeli media landscape is the following. Israeli officials are talking about the fact that William Burns, the CIA director, suggested a more limited framework of a ceasefire in his meeting with the Mossad director and the Qatari foreign minister in Qatar on Sunday.
This ceasefire would potentially last 20 days and would see perhaps eight Israeli captives held in Gaza being released by Hamas in exchange for several Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
This is a far more limited framework than we have seen compared with other versions of a deal presented in the past. It presents a problem because Hamas, in the past, said that they would only agree to a permanent ceasefire.
Qatar will work with US until ‘last minute’ for Gaza ceasefire
Qatar will work with US President Joe Biden’s administration “until the last minute” before the US election to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry says.
“We don’t foresee any negative result of the elections on the mediation process itself,” ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told a press conference. “We believe that we are dealing with institutions and in a country like the United States, the institutions are invested in finding a resolution to this crisis.”
Qatar, along with the US and Egypt, has mediated months of negotiations for a deal to end the Israeli war on Gaza and exchange Israeli captives held there for Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel.
