The CIA has assessed that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, is feeling the heat from his own military commanders to cut a ceasefire deal and end the war with Israel. As per an inside source, this revelation came from CIA Director Bill Burns during a hush-hush conference on Saturday.
Sinwar, the mastermind behind the brutal October 7 attack in Israel, isn’t sweating about his own survival. Instead, he’s under the gun for the suffering his actions have caused in Gaza. According to Burns, Sinwar is likely hiding in the tunnels beneath his hometown of Khan Younis, making the call on whether Hamas will strike a deal.
Now, Burns—who’s been running around trying to broker peace for months on behalf of the Biden administration—stressed that both Israel and Hamas need to seize this moment to agree on a ceasefire, especially since the war has dragged on for over nine months. But the real kicker?
Sinwar faces newfound pressure from his top commanders, who are tired of this endless conflict.
Burns spilled these beans at the annual Allen & Company summer retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho—a glitzy shindig for the elite. Think tech moguls, media bigwigs, and top government officials rubbing elbows away from the public’s prying eyes. Of course, the CIA stayed tight-lipped when asked for a comment.
So, what’s the deal? Hamas and Israel have tentatively agreed on a framework deal that President Joe Biden outlined back in May. Burns had just come back from another Middle East trip, trying to nail down the details of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, meeting with key mediators from Qatar and Egypt, as well as Israel’s foreign intelligence head.
Burns mentioned on Saturday that there’s a “fragile possibility” for peace, noting the chances for a ceasefire are higher now than they’ve been in a long time. But he warned that final negotiations are always tricky. The push for peace reignited after talks fell apart in May, despite similar efforts by Burns.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t getting off easy either. He’s under massive domestic pressure to secure a deal to bring home the hostages held in Gaza. Thousands of Israelis are hitting the streets of Tel Aviv, demanding the government prioritize the hostages over military campaigns.
Biden chimed in on Thursday, stating, “There are still gaps to close, but we’re making progress, the trend is positive.” He’s determined to get this deal done and end the war, which should have ended ages ago.
The war in Gaza has been catastrophic. Over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed, with thousands more missing and hundreds of thousands facing disease, famine, and lack of shelter, according to aid organizations. The intricate details of the potential agreement are bogged down by the challenge of communicating with Sinwar, who is in hiding as Israel hunts him down.
Israel has managed to find and kill only one of the three top Hamas leaders in Gaza—Marwan Issa, the second in command of Hamas’s military wing. Its military chief, Mohammed Deif, was targeted in a bombing that killed almost 100 Palestinians, but his fate remains uncertain.
US officials believe Sinwar is ready to step down from ruling Gaza, and both Israel and Hamas have agreed to an “interim governance” plan in the second phase of a ceasefire, where neither would control Gaza. Qatar has also threatened to kick out Hamas’s political leaders if they don’t agree to the plan.
Recent communications from senior Hamas leaders inside Gaza, reported by the Associated Press, show they’re urging external leaders to accept Biden’s ceasefire proposal due to heavy losses and dire conditions in Gaza. Hamas has even dropped its demand for a permanent ceasefire in the agreement, a sticking point that Israel refused to budge on.
Netanyahu, however, insists that any deal must allow Israel to resume fighting until its war objectives are met. The proposed framework suggests that a permanent ceasefire will be negotiated during the initial pause in fighting, which will continue as long as talks progress.
Netanyahu reiterated his stance at a recent press conference, saying he wouldn’t deviate from Biden’s framework despite Hamas requesting 29 changes to the proposal. As Burns noted, there are still challenging issues to resolve, and it seems like there’s a long road ahead before any deal is sealed.
