File Photo: CIA Director William burns speaks during the US Foreign Service Gala Celebrating 100 Years of American Diplomacy at the State Department in Washington, DC. AFP
Burns' visit would come three days after his stop in Doha for another round of talks with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Israeli and Egyptian security officials.
Early this week, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi unveiled on Sunday an Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire in Gaza for two days in which four Israeli captives are exchanged for several Palestinian prisoners.
The president said the initiative is a preliminary step for a lasting ceasefire.
On Tuesday, Sami Abu Zahri, a member of Hamas's Political Bureau, announced that the group has agreed to study recent ceasefire proposals presented by mediators.
"The Islamic Resistance Movement will study all proposals that will end the suffering of our people," Abu Zahri said.
Egypt, along with the US and Qatar, has been mediating indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal for months. Still, Tel Aviv has rejected all proposals and opted to continue its genocidal war on the strip.
A new round of talks would take place amid an increasingly deadly Israeli assault on hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza since early October to force the civilian population to move towards the south.
Israeli airstrikes and a military ground operation have destroyed hundreds of residential buildings and killed hundreds of Palestinians in Beit Lahia and Jabalia and another town in the northern part of the strip.
Meanwhile, a total Israeli blockade on all food and water has left the entire civilian population on the brink of starvation.
Last Thursday, a high-level Egyptian security and military team met with the Mossad chief and a delegation from Shin Bet to discuss efforts to resume ceasefire/prisoner exchange talks.
In tandem, a delegation from Hamas met in Cairo with an Egyptian security delegation to discuss the ongoing situation in the Gaza Strip.
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