US Aims to Use Israel-Hamas Deal to Open Wider Peace Talks

Negotiators proposing deal for hostages, longer cease-fire
Washington wants to move ahead on normalization, rebuilding

Posters of Israeli hostages in Jerusalem, Israel.
Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg

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By Iain Marlow

January 26, 2024 at 9:27 PM UTC

Updated on

January 27, 2024 at 4:24 AM UTC

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The US hopes a fresh hostage deal between Israel and Hamas will create the space for talks to achieve a more lasting regional peace agreement, a State Department official said Friday, offering a longer-term vision for the Biden administration as its negotiators criss-cross the region in search of a breakthrough.

Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, who helped hammer out a previous deal to release Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, is set to join fresh talks on the hostage deal in the coming days. That would follow work by White House Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, to win the release of almost all the remaining hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a cease-fire that could last at least two months.