CIA director Bill Burns is expected to travel to Doha next week to join negotiations on the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, two Israeli sources said, Report informs referring to Axios.
Burns is expected to hold a joint meeting with the Prime Minister of Qatar, the director of the Israeli Mossad and the head of the Egyptian intelligence service in an effort to push forward the deal that could lead to the release of 120 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and end nine months of war.
The CIA declined to comment.
Israeli and US officials are more optimistic than before that the latest back and forth with Hamas leaders can lead to a deal.
A key remaining gap centers on Hamas' demand for written commitments from the US, Egypt and Qatar that negotiations over the second phase of the deal will continue with no time limit while the first phase of the deal is underway, Israeli officials told Axios.
But Israeli and US officials said Israel believes it is an issue that can and should be resolved in order to proceed to detailed negotiations on the implementation of the agreement.
Mossad director David Barnea traveled to Qatar on Friday and met with the prime minister of Qatar, two senior Israeli officials told Axios.