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CIA Director William Burns, Mossad Chief David Barnea, and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani were in Cairo for discussions with Egyptian officials about reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, according to reports from Egyptian media.
The meeting, dubbed a “quartet meeting” by Al-Qahera News, comes amid escalating international efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Hamas militant group. The conflict has seen over 28,000 fatalities in Gaza.
Sources from Washington disclosed Burns’ expected arrival in Cairo to deliberate on a truce proposal facilitated by Qatar, following Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s initial response to the ceasefire offer.
Despite the international push for peace, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has committed to continuing the offensive against Hamas, including a planned incursion into Rafah in southern Gaza, home to approximately 1.4 million displaced individuals.
The U.S. State Department, through spokesman Matthew Miller, expressed opposition to a large-scale military action in Rafah without a solid plan for civilian safety.
This stance was stated shortly before an Israeli operation to free two hostages in Gaza, accompanied by airstrikes that resulted in about 100 Palestinian deaths, as reported by Gaza’s health ministry. Hamas claims that several hostages have died in recent Israeli airstrikes, a claim that remains unverified by AFP.
During Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, which ignited the ongoing conflict, approximately 250 individuals were taken hostage. Following a ceasefire in November, about 130 hostages remain in Gaza, with 29 believed to be deceased, based on information from Israeli authorities.
The conflict has led to the deaths of roughly 1,160 individuals in Israel, predominantly civilians, and at least 28,340 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, as per the health ministry’s reports.
