CIA Director William Burns held several meetings in Qatar and Israel last week to secure the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip as the war continues in Gaza for the 44th day.Rina Bassist, Ezgi Akin, Beatrice Farhat, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, Jack Dutton, Jared Szuba and Al-Monitor’s contributors on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel contributed to this blog.
A near-finalized deal will will reportedly free 50 Hamas hostages in exchange for an unknown number of Palestinian women and minors in Israeli custody, a temporary cease-fire and pauses in drone surveillance.
Regional spillover from the fighting in the Gaza Strip has seen a spike in attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria and ongoing Israeli raids in the West Bank.Rina Bassist, Ezgi Akin, Beatrice Farhat, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, Jack Dutton, Jared Szuba and Al-Monitor’s contributors on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel contributed to this blog.
The visit comes amid progress in talks to free the hostages, mediated by the United States and Qatar and as the war continues in Gaza for the 45th day.