U.S. CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to travel to Cairo this weekend to meet with his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts.
William Burns, Tom Williams/Pool via Reuters/File Photo
U.S. CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to travel to Cairo this weekend to meet with his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts and the Qatari prime minister to try to reach a breakthrough in talks on releasing hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted on social media site X on Thursday, citing two sources.
Negotiations continue, but Hamas refuses to concede anything. For the terrorist organization, the hostages remain their last bargaining chip.
The United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) delivered a unified and unambiguous message Thursday in Manama: Lebanon's sovereignty must be restored, armed groups outside state authority must be disarmed, and the Lebanese file must not be held hostage to Iran's regional agenda.
The biggest casualty of the U.S.-Iran deal may not be Israel's Iran strategy, but the political brand Benjamin Netanyahu spent decades building as the Israeli leader who could uniquely bend Washington to his will on Iran, analysts, former U.S. officials and diplomats say.
Senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied on Thursday that there had been any Israeli withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon, after a U.S. official said Israel had pulled some troops back in a good faith gesture toward Lebanon's government.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.