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The heads of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad spy agency are expected to hold talks on Tuesday with senior Egyptian and Qatari officials in a bid to revive negotiations on a deal to halt the Israel-Hamas war and secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, said people familiar with the process.
The negotiations, likely to be held in Cairo, come a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ calls for a deal as “delusional” and vowed to press for a “total victory” in the war with the group Palestinian militant.
Despite Netanyahu’s stance, US President Joe Biden on Monday said he would do “everything possible” to broker a six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of the hostages.
He warned Israel that its forces must not launch an offensive in Rafah, a crowded city of more than a million people near Gaza’s border with Egypt, “without a credible plan” to protect civilians.
Biden spoke after a White House meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah, who warned that an Israeli offensive in Rafah would “produce another humanitarian catastrophe.”
“We cannot afford an Israeli attack on Rafah,” King Abdullah said. “The situation is already unbearable for more than a million people who have been pushed back to Rafah since the war began. We cannot stand by and let this continue. We need a lasting ceasefire now.”
Mediators hoped that Mossad chief David Barnea’s plan to travel to Egypt was a sign that Israel was still open to discussions on a potential deal, despite Netanyahu’s rhetoric.
“The discussions have been constructive and there is willingness to compromise,” said a diplomat briefed on the talks. “Barnea would not have gone to the talks unless he had the green light.”
“The key elements of the deal are on the table,” Biden said Monday. “Gaps remain,” he added, but he “encouraged Israeli leaders to continue working to reach the agreement.”
Last week, Hamas proposed a four-and-a-half-month ceasefire, during which it would release the remaining hostages in stages in exchange for Israel’s release of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners, including 500 sentenced to life in prison. The proposal came in response to a framework agreement brokered by mediators in January.
Hamas also called for Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza’s large urban centers during the first phase of the truce, and to withdraw completely from the besieged strip in the second phase.
The talks, mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, have been bogged down for weeks by Israel’s rejection of Hamas’ insistence that any hostage deal should end in a permanent ceasefire.
Since launching its offensive on Gaza in response to the devastating Hamas attack on October 7, Israel has vowed to eradicate the Palestinian militant group and maintain overall security on the Strip.
The diplomat said the crucial points remain the issue of a permanent ceasefire – which mediators would also like to include at the end of any hostage deal – and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
But mediators hope they can reach compromises.
After Netanyahu rejected Hamas’s proposals last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that while there had been some “clear non-starters” made by the militant group, “we think it creates space for achieving an agreement and we will work to find it.” so incessantly until we get there.”
Barnea and CIA chief Bill Burns recently held talks with Qatari and Egyptian officials in Paris, during which they agreed to a framework agreement that included a six-week pause in hostilities for a hostage and prisoner exchange. But the agreement did not guarantee a permanent ceasefire.
On Monday, after Israeli forces freed two hostages in Gaza, Netanyahu said: “Only continued military pressure, until total victory, will lead to the release of all our hostages.”
Hamas is believed to be holding around 130 hostages, including the bodies of some of the dead. The group killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 during the October 7 attack.
The latest hostage talks come as international pressure grows on Israel to end its war in Gaza, which has killed more than 28,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials.
Global concern over Israel’s offensive has intensified since Netanyahu ordered the military to prepare to evacuate civilians from Rafah.
Biden, who faces growing pressure to do more to address Palestinian suffering, last week called Israel’s military response in Gaza “overblown.” He said on Monday that “too many” of the more than 27,000 people who have died in Gaza “were innocent civilians and children.”