The American newspaper "Washington Post" said that President Joe Biden appointed CIA Director, William Burns, to help mediate the "Great Gaza Deal."
According to officials familiar with the matter, President Biden plans to send CIA Director William Burns in the coming days to help broker an “ambitious agreement” between Hamas and Israel that includes the release of all remaining hostages being held. In Gaza, the longest cessation of confrontations since the start of the war last year.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry denounces Netanyahu’s statements and says: They obstruct and undermine mediation efforts for narrow political reasons
Burns is expected to travel to Europe for the talks and meet with Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs David Barnea and Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.
The American newspaper confirmed that the planned gathering had not been previously reported.
Egypt and Qatar were key interlocutors between Israel and Hamas, with the two countries helping to secure an initial cessation of hostilities and the release of hostages in November, but tensions between the Israelis and Qataris reached “the brink” after an audio recording by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Qatari mediation was leaked.
The newspaper reported that Burns' discussions in Europe are expected to depend on his phone conversations with his counterparts, as well as the work of the White House's chief official in the Middle East, Brett McGurk, who this week held related meetings in the Qatari capital, Doha, and in Cairo.
The American newspaper pointed out that the latest Israeli proposal includes a cessation of fighting for a period of 60 days in exchange for the gradual release of more than 100 prisoners, starting with civilian women and children, followed by civilian and military men, men, and the remains of those who have died since their capture.
“A bill that has not been paid yet.” The Pentagon reveals the costs of American reinforcements in the Middle East
The Pentagon estimated the cost of the American military buildup in the Middle East since October 7 at $1.6 billion, a bill that the ministry cannot pay due to the inability to approve the budget, according to American officials.
The officials, who declined to be identified, said the Defense Department recently sent the estimate to congressional officials in response to questions.
The total cost includes the cost of sending warships, fighter jets and additional equipment to the region and keeping them there for the past four months, officials said.
They said that this does not include the cost of missiles used by the US military to strike Houthi positions in Yemen or shoot down drones and missiles in the Red Sea, because there is not enough data yet to make these calculations.
Over the course of a full year, the cost of increasing military reinforcements may rise to $2.2 billion, according to estimates.
According to the newspaper "Politico", these numbers are the latest complication in the rapidly expanding conflict in the Middle East, noting that their arrival in Congress coincides with the arrival of negotiations regarding the additional request submitted by President Joe Biden to obtain more than 100 billion dollars to aid Israel , Ukraine and Taiwan . To a focal point.
But because US lawmakers have not yet agreed on a Defense Department spending bill for the full year, the US military does not have the funds to pay for these unplanned operations, according to Politico.
“I think it would be a gap we would want to fill,” one official said. “It's an outstanding bill and we're going to have to pay it within a limited amount of resources.”
Since the attack on October 7, the Pentagon has ordered an additional aircraft carrier strike group, amphibious ships carrying Marines, fighter jets, air defenses and hundreds of troops to the Middle East.
According to Politico, “These forces initially worked to deter additional groups from getting involved in the conflict, and more recently they protected civilian ships in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks .”