By CIA director unveils new version of Gaza hostage release deal
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns has presented to representatives of Egypt, Israel and Qatar Washington’s new “bridging” proposal for a deal on the release of the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip, The Washington Post reported, citing Israeli sources.
According to the newspaper, Burns presented the American version of the deal at talks in Paris on February 23. The sources said that the proposal consisted of three key points and demonstrated US concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.
- The first step of the Burns formula is a significant increase in the amount of humanitarian aid provided to the residents of the enclave. This includes increasing the number of humanitarian aid trucks, providing shelter for displaced Palestinians, reopening food sources such as bakeries, and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure.
- The second part of the agreement involves the gradual return of displaced Palestinians to their homes during the ceasefire. The third step is to reach agreements on the release of hostages, but the sources did not give specific details. They said that one of the main stumbling blocks in the exchange is the possibility of releasing one of the Fatah leaders, Marwan Barghouti.
The newspaper said that the version of the deal proposed by the CIA director will not solve the main problems of the Israel-Hamas War, but will prevent the situation from deteriorating. According to it, a ceasefire would pave the way for more concrete and bolder proposals to resolve the conflict.
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