CIA chief Burns to meet Netanyahu amid last-ditch efforts to reach deal between Israel, Hamas

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

File: CIA Director William Burns speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 8, 2023. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP Photo)
File: CIA Director William Burns speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 8, 2023. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP Photo)

A meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and CIA chief William Burns will take place in Jerusalem in the early afternoon, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

Intensive efforts by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to mediate a deal between Israel and Hamas collapsed over the weekend, and the CIA director is working to find a way to keep hope alive for a deal even as Israel begins to evacuate civilians from parts of Rafah in advance of a likely military operation.

Burns departed Cairo for Doha to hold talks with Qatar’s prime minister yesterday, and is in Israel today.

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