President Sisi Receives CIA Chief, Gaza Ceasefire Talks Resume Today in Doha

JAKARTA - Gaza Strip ceasefire talks will resume in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday, then return to Cairo, Egypt on Thursday after talks between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns on Tuesday, Egyptian government-affiliated media reported.

An Egyptian security delegation will head to the Qatari capital on Wednesday, "on a mission to reconcile views between Hamas and Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement as soon as possible," Al-Qahera News TV reported, citing a senior source.

"There is agreement on many things," the senior source said, adding that talks will resume in Cairo on Thursday, Reuters reported on July 9.

Egypt and Qatar are known to have spearheaded mediation in the nine-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, in order to end the fighting and secure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Senior US officials are in the region to push for a ceasefire after Hamas made concessions last week. Most recently, the Palestinian militant group said Monday's Israeli offensive in Gaza threatened to stall truce talks at a crucial time, urging mediators to rein in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"President Sisi reiterated Egypt's position rejecting the continuation of military operations in the Gaza Strip," the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement after his meeting with Burns in Cairo.

President Sisi also stressed the need to take "serious and effective measures" to prevent the expansion of the Gaza conflict in the wider region, the statement added.