US CIA Director to Visit Qatar for Gaza NegotiationsUS CIA Director to Visit Qatar for Gaza Negotiations US CIA Director William Burns is scheduled to travel to Qatar this week to participate in negotiations regarding the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Hamas Awaits Response from Israel on Ceasefire Proposal Hamas officials have conveyed their ceasefire proposal to mediators and are awaiting a response from the Israeli government. The proposal includes dropping the demand for a permanent ceasefire before negotiations, allowing for negotiations during the initial phase of a three-phase plan proposed by the Biden administration. Israel Reportedly in Talks with Qatar Sources indicate that Israel is currently engaged in discussions with Qatari officials regarding Hamas’s response to the proposed plan. Deadly Airstrike on Church School in Gaza An Israeli airstrike on a church school in Gaza City has killed Ehab Al-Ghussein, the Hamas-appointed deputy labor minister, and three others. The Israeli military has said it is investigating the incident. US CIA Director’s Role in Negotiations According to a source familiar with the matter, US CIA Director William Burns will be traveling to Qatar this week to participate in the negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict in Gaza. Conflict Timeline and Casualties The conflict in Gaza has been ongoing for nine months, resulting in over 1,200 Israeli casualties and an estimated 38,000 Palestinian casualties.
US CIA Director William Burns will also travel to Qatar this week for negotiations
GAZA:
Hamas is awaiting a response from Israel to its ceasefire proposal, two officials from the Palestinian group said Sunday, five days after Hamas accepted a key part of a US plan aimed at ending the nine-month war in Gaza.
“We have left our response to the mediators and are waiting for the response of the occupiers,” one of the two Hamas officials told Reuters, asking not to be named.
The three-phase plan for the Palestinian enclave was proposed by US President Joe Biden in late May and is being brokered by Qatar and Egypt. It aims to end the war and free some 120 Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Another Palestinian official briefed on the ceasefire talks said Israel was in talks with the Qataris.
“They discussed with them Hamas’ response and promised to give them Israel’s response within a few days,” the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said negotiations will continue this week, but he has not given a detailed timeline.
Later in the day, Ehab Al-Ghussein, the Hamas-appointed deputy labor minister, and three other people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a church school in western Gaza City that was hosting Christian and Muslim families, Hamas media and the Civil Emergency Service reported.
Read: Gaza ceasefire, hostage release efforts gain momentum
The Israeli military said it was investigating the report. Ghussein’s wife and children had already been killed in an Israeli attack in May.
Hamas, which controls Gaza, has dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing any deal. Instead, it said it would allow negotiations to achieve that during the first six-week phase, a Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
A Palestinian official close to the peace efforts said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if Israel embraced it, which would end the war.
According to a source familiar with the matter, US CIA Director William Burns is traveling to Qatar this week for negotiations.
The conflict began nine months ago, on October 7, when Hamas fighters from Gaza attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. It was the worst attack in Israel’s history, according to official Israeli figures.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military assault, according to health officials in Gaza, which has left the coastal enclave largely in ruins.
The UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, called the situation increasingly tragic, saying in a message on X: “Families continue to face forced displacement, mass destruction and constant fear. Essential supplies are lacking, the heat is unbearable, diseases are spreading.”
