MOSCOW, (Sputnik) – The latest round of talks on the release of hostages held by Palestinian movement Hamas with the participation of CIA Director William Burns will be held in Cairo on Tuesday.
The CIA chief is expected to be joined by senior Egyptian and Qatari officials, as well as Israeli negotiators from the Mossad and Shin Bet security agencies. It will be the fifth round of talks for Burns, who was involved in brokering the first temporary ceasefire agreement last November.
The meeting comes in the aftermath of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vehement dismissal of Hamas’ latest counter-proposal, which included the release of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from Gaza, as «delusional.» The participants are expected to discuss ways to persuade the Palestinian movement to ease its demands.
