The CIA director met with senior Qatari and Egyptian officials on Wednesday as the Biden administration renewed its push for a ceasefire in Gaza, although Israel and Hamas still appeared far apart over their latest proposal to suspend the fighting.
U.S. spy chief William J. Burns met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abba in Doha, according to an official briefed on the matter. S Kamal.
Egypt and Qatar have been key mediators in negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and the two sides do not speak directly. By dispatching Burns, the Biden administration is signaling that it remains heavily invested in trying to broker a ceasefire to end the bloodshed in Gaza and calm broader regional tensions.
The official said the meeting was focused on finding ways to bring Israel and Hamas closer to a deal, saying Qatar had received early positive feedback from Hamas on the ceasefire proposal approved by President Joe Biden last week. But still waiting to receive a formal reply.
Qatar’s prime minister and Kamal also met with Hamas leaders on Wednesday to discuss the proposal, according to officials briefed on the talks.
Biden described the proposal as a new Israeli proposal that would begin with a six-week cessation of fighting and eventually lead to a “permanent cessation of hostilities,” raising hopes among Israelis and Palestinians that a deal would end nearly eight month of conflict. But since the president made the proposal public, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly refused to end the war without first destroying Hamas’s governing and military capabilities.
On Wednesday, a senior Hamas official reiterated the group’s position that it will not agree to any deal that does not provide a permanent ceasefire. The official, Bassem Naim, said there was “no point” for the group to negotiate as Israeli forces launched new attacks on Gaza and said Hamas would not accept a temporary truce.
“We drink a little when we are thirsty, eat a little when we are hungry, and then half a month later we are back to being killed?” he said.
Officials briefed on the meeting in Qatar said recent statements by Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have led Hamas officials to question whether Israel wants a permanent halt to the fighting.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majid Ansari said on Tuesday that it was “awaiting a clear position from Israel on behalf of the entire government”.
Another person briefed on the negotiations said Burns’ stay in Doha was not expected to lead to significant progress amid divided public opinion. Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza and the presumed mastermind of the Oct. 7 terror attack in southern Israel, still has to weigh in on the latest proposal, the person said.
White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk will also return to the region this week for meetings in Cairo, a U.S. official said.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday that the proposal outlined by Biden “remains a living proposal,” although Netanyahu has yet to publicly back it and two of his ministers have expressed opposition to any deal. Hamas is intact.
“Israel is a loud democracy, so there’s a lot of talk and chit-chat,” Mr. Sullivan said in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show. “But the Israeli government has repeatedly reiterated until today that the proposal is still under discussion and now depends on Hamas’s acceptance. The world should call on Hamas to accept it.
The first phase of Biden’s proposal calls for both sides to abide by a temporary six-week ceasefire while talks continue to reach a permanent ceasefire. In a meeting with Israeli lawmakers on Monday, Netanyahu was open to a 42-day pause in fighting, according to a person who attended the meeting, accepting at least part of the discussion in the first phase of what Biden described as a three-part plan.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said Israel’s latest position conveyed to the group did not include a permanent ceasefire or a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, both of which were conditional on Hamas insists. Mr. Hamdan said Israel only wanted a temporary ceasefire to release the hostages before resuming the war.
“We call on the mediators to make their position clear on the Israeli occupation,” he said.
King Abdulrahim Contributed reporting.