United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns (pictured left) will meet with his counterpart from Israeli Mossad, David Barnea, in Doha, Qatar, later in the day to talk about extending the ceasefire between the latter country and Hamas more, Axios reported on Tuesday.
According to a person familiar with the matter, Hamas releasing more hostages remains a prerequisite for Israel to agree to a new extension following the previously announced two-day one. The discussions will also include Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani as neither the US nor Israel have direct contact with Hamas; instead, it goes through Doha's mediators.
Earlier in the day, Qatar described the negotiations between Hamas and Israel as "difficult" and the latter as "the toughest party" in the process.
