President Biden To Dispatch CIA Director To Broker Israel-Hamas Deal

The Washington Post reporting that, according to White House sources, President Biden plans to dispatch CIA Director Bill Burns to, "help broker an ambitious deal between Hamas and Israel," understood to include the exchange of all remaining hostages and an extended pause in hostilities.

• Burns is expected to hold security talks in Cairo, Egypt with counterparts from Israel, Egypt, and Qatar to further ongoing negotiations being conducted by White House Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk.
• WaPo reports, "Israel’s latest proposal includes a 60-day pause in fighting in exchange for the phased release of the more than 100 captives... Such a pause would allow Israel to continue fighting after the two-month lull in line with Netanyahu’s vow to achieve “total victory” by destroying Hamas."
• The White House has been opaque about the status of negotiations in recent days, stressing that the US wants to see additional pauses but falling short of calling for a more permanent ceasefire.
• Any sign of a new deal would significantly decrease tensions in the region and add credibility to the White House strategy of applying pressure on Israel via private channels. An extended ceasefire would also undermine a central political justification of the Houthi's attacks in the Red Sea, raising the prospect that neutral parties like China and India could more readily condemn attacks, should they continue.
• White House National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby is due to brief the press momentarily. LINK