Mossad, CIA Heads Meet In Qatar Amid US Push For Longer Truce-WaPo

The Washington Post is reporting that CIA Director William Burns will meet with his counterpart from Mossad, David Barnea, as well as the Qatari PM in Doha as the US seeks to push for a longer pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. WaPo: "Burns is pushing for Hamas and Israel to broaden the focus of their ongoing hostage negotiations, [...] He is also seeking a longer multiday pause in fighting [...] Crucially, Burns is pushing for the immediate release of American hostages held by Hamas."

• The article places Burns and Barnea as key actors in any further deal that can be agreed. "Barnea is the key Israeli person for these negotiations,” said Natan Sachs, an Israel scholar at the Brookings Institution,[...] “He’s the one authorized to speak on behalf of the prime minister.” Far outside of Netanyahu’s circle of trust is Israel’s intelligence minister, Gila Gamliel, and foreign minister, Eli Cohen, observers say, making Burns’s meetings with his counterpart a focal point for dealmaking."
• France's Le Monde notes the increasing pressure on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. While there is massive public pressure to ensure that all hostages in Gaza (or those held elsewhere) are released, the right-wing of his Likud party and his far-right coalition allies are demanding the destruction of Hamas sooner rather than later. This course of action risks an end to the hostage exchanges.