William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, will talk with his Israeli counterpart to try to revive the stalled discussions over a pause in the fighting and the release of hostages in Gaza, according to a U.S. official. It is not clear if Egyptian and Qatari negotiators will join Mr. Burns and David Barnea, the chief of the Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, to directly take part in the discussions. U.S. officials say a hostage-for-cease-fire agreement has to be reached for all their other diplomatic efforts to get momentum, including discussions of a postwar administration in Gaza and a megadeal for a Palestinian state that the Americans and Saudis want Israel to agree to.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/23/world/middleeast/cia-burns-israel-hostages-cease-fire.html
