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CIA chief Bill Burns is expected to arrive in Paris on Friday for a meeting with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Israel to discuss efforts to reach a deal for the release of the abductees - according to a source privy to the details.
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The Biden administration wants to try to secure a deal for the release of the hostages before Ramadan, which begins on March 10, to ensure a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month.
Burns' decision to go to a meeting in Paris with the Prime Minister of Qatar and the head of Egyptian intelligence looks like an American attempt to establish facts on the ground and pressure Israel to continue negotiations.
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A Hamas delegation led by the head of the Political Bureau, Ismail Haniya, arrived in Cairo on Tuesday for talks with senior Egyptian intelligence officials.
Today (Wednesday), President Biden's senior advisor Brett McGurk met in Cairo with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, and discussed with him the negotiations for the release of the abductees.
A senior American said after the meeting that all parties are making efforts to reach an agreement for the release of the abductees.
"We think there is value in continuing the negotiations," said the American official.
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Minister Benny Gantz said at a press conference this evening (Wednesday) that there are initial signs indicating the possibility of moving forward with an agreement to release the abductees.
A senior Israeli official said that from the updates provided to Israel it appears that Hamas gave Egypt a "verbal response" regarding its updated position which included "only minor changes", including in the issue of Hamas demands regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israel.
The Israeli official noted that the information transferred to Israel today cannot be defined as a breakthrough or even significant progress.
The Israeli official noted that Prime Minister Netanyahu and the War Cabinet have not yet decided definitively that an Israeli delegation will go to the talks in Paris, but he estimated that this would happen with a high probability.
The Israeli official added that the members of the negotiating team - Mossad head Dedi Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Major General Nitzan Alon - are interested in going to a meeting in Paris, but want to receive a mandate to conduct negotiations, in contrast to the meeting in Cairo last week in which Netanyahu forbade them to conduct negotiation
According to the Israeli official, if the instruction that Netanyahu and the cabinet give to the negotiating team this time will be to "just listen" - there is a great chance that most of the team members will not go to Paris and the head of the Mossad Barna will travel alone.
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