CIA, MI6 chiefs urge truce-hostage deal; Burns calls for ‘hard political compromises’
As new proposal being finalized, spymasters issue unprecedented joint plea for ceasefire to end Gaza civilians’ ‘appalling loss of life’ and hostages’ ‘hellish confinement’
The heads of the American and British foreign intelligence agencies said Saturday they are “working ceaselessly” for a ceasefire in Gaza, using a rare joint public statement to press for an end to the conflict.
CIA Director William Burns and MI6 Chief Richard Moore said their agencies had “exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation.”
Later Saturday, Burns said a new hostage-ceasefire proposal was being finalized, and would likely be presented within days, but stressed that ending the conflict would require “some hard choices and some political compromises” from both Israel and Hamas.
In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, the two spymasters said a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war “could end the suffering and appalling loss of life of Palestinian civilians and bring home the hostages after 11 months of hellish confinement.”
Burns has been heavily involved in efforts to broker an end to the fighting, traveling to Egypt in August for high-level talks aimed at bringing about a hostage deal and at least a temporary halt to the conflict.
So far there has been no agreement, though United States officials insist a deal is close. US President Joe Biden said recently that “just a couple more issues” remain unresolved. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has said reports of a breakthrough are inaccurate, that no deal is close, and that Hamas has “rejected everything.”
The war in Gaza was sparked on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
The US and the United Kingdom are both staunch allies of Israel and have both supported the war, though London diverged from Washington on Monday by suspending some arms exports to Israel due to risk that they could be used to break international law.
At a Financial Times event in London alongside Moore on Saturday, Burns said that a more detailed proposal for a deal would be made in the coming days but would require both sides to make some tough decisions.
Burns said he was working very hard on “texts and creative formulas” with mediators Qatar and Egypt to secure a ceasefire, by finding a proposal which satisfies both parties. We will make this more detailed proposal, I hope in the next several days, and then we’ll see,” Burns stated.
He added, however, that it was ultimately a question of political will. “As hard as we are going to work on texts and creative formulas for finding a good enough proposal, and hopefully that’ll happen in the coming days, this is ultimately a question of political will…: Whether or not leaders on both sides are prepared to recognize that enough is enough and that the time has come finally to make some hard choices and some difficult compromises.”
“I cannot tell you how close we are right now,” Burns said.
He said that while 90 percent of the text has been agreed between the warring sides, “the last 10% is the last 10% for a reason because it’s the hardest part to do.”
Additionally, Moore said he believes Iran is still planning to retaliate for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which took place in Tehran in late July and which Iran blames on Israel.
“I suspect they will try and we won’t be able to let our guard down for the type of activity that the Iranians might try and prosecute in that direction,” Moore said when asked about whether Iran would retaliate.
Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the Tehran blast that killed the terror leader.
In their opinion piece, Burns and Moore also stressed the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship in the face of “an unprecedented array of threats,” including an assertive Russia, an ever-more powerful China, and the constant threat from international terrorism — all complicated by rapid technological change.
The world order was “under threat in a way we haven’t seen since the Cold War,” they warned.
They highlighted Russia’s “reckless campaign of sabotage” across Europe and the “cynical use of technology to spread lies and disinformation designed to drive wedges between us.”
US officials have long accused Moscow of meddling in American elections, and this week the Biden administration seized Kremlin-run websites and charged employees of Russian broadcaster RT with covertly funding social media campaigns to pump out pro-Kremlin messages and sow discord around November’s presidential contest.
The article is the first joint opinion piece by the heads of the two spy agencies. The two directors pointed to a new era of openness in their secretive field, noting that the CIA and MI6 both declassified intelligence about Russia’s plan to invade Ukraine before Moscow attacked its neighbor in February 2022.
“We saw it coming, and were able to warn the international community so we could all rally to Ukraine’s defense,” they said.
Two and a half years into a war with no quick end in sight, the spy chiefs said “staying the course” in supporting Ukraine remained vital.
They said the conflict has brought an unprecedented mix of conventional weaponry, fast-evolving technology in the form of drones and satellites, cyber-warfare and information operations “at incredible pace and scale.”
“This conflict has demonstrated that technology, deployed alongside extraordinary bravery and traditional weaponry, can alter the course of war,” they said, praising “Ukraine’s resilience, innovation and elan.”
