CIA Director William Burns will embark on a trip to Europe for the fourth set of discussions regarding the Gaza hostages.

January 25, 2024 Benjamin Hughes

5,000 detainees held by the Taliban

The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, will be traveling to Europe in the near future to participate in a fourth series of negotiations involving multiple parties. The goal of these talks is to reach an agreement that will result in the release of over 5,000 detainees currently being held by the Taliban.

There are currently 100 individuals who are being held as hostages in Gaza.

A reliable source informed CBS News on Thursday.

According to a source, Burns is scheduled to have a meeting in France with David Barnea, the leader of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, as well as Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Abbas Kamel, the chief of Egyptian intelligence, is also involved. These four individuals have been involved in previous discussions to secure the release of hostages in exchange for a ceasefire, which is a main demand by Hamas.

It is believed that six men who are citizens of the United States are among the individuals still being held captive in Gaza. On October 7, Hamas took hundreds of people hostage in their attacks on Israel.

The first major success occurred in November, spearheaded by the United States and Qatar, which led to the liberation of over 100 hostages and 200 Palestinian inmates.

Recently, tensions escalated between Israel and Qatar due to the release of recorded audio in which Netanyahu criticized Doha’s actions while speaking with families of Israeli hostages.

Margaret Brennan

Margaret Brennan serves as the moderator for “Face The Nation” on CBS News and is also a senior foreign affairs correspondent for the network, working from their Washington, D.C. location.

Source: cbsnews.com