Israel – The Jerusalem Post, December 20, 2024
Current progress in the talks remains stuck for the time being, as the two sides remain at an impasse over a couple of Israeli demands.
No progress was made towards the completion of a hostage deal/ceasefire agreement on Thursday, and CIA Director William J. Burns, who was in Doha for the talks, left Qatar after being there for a day, a US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post on Friday.
Burns is no longer in the Middle East, the official told the American news outlet. Nevertheless, negotiations are still underway as Israel, Hamas, and American, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators “want to prepare the ground for Trump,” a member of a diplomatic mission in the Middle East told the Post.
“They know that if they don’t reach such an agreement, it will not be a good thing for any of them, including the Israelis,” the member of the diplomatic mission said. “I think this has resulted in a lot of developments. … The question is whether [or not] they wait for Trump.”
Nevertheless, current progress in the talks remains stuck for the time being, as the two sides remain at an impasse over a couple of Israeli demands, Egyptian officials told the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news outlet Al-Akhbar on Friday.
