CIA Director Bill Burns speaks during the US Foreign Service Gala Celebrating 100 Years of American Diplomacy at the State Department in Washington, DC, May 21, 2024. AFP
The visit of the CIA chief to the French capital, expected on Friday or Saturday, comes after Israel gave the green light to the resumption of negotiations for the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire.
Previous talks in Cairo and Doha attended by Qatar and Egypt as mediators for Hamas broke up earlier this month with both Israel and the Palestinian resistance group unhappy with the conditions of the other side.
It was not immediately clear if representatives of Qatar or Egypt would be present at the Paris talks.
The New York Times said Burns would meet his Israeli counterpart David Barnea, the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency.
The US-based Axios news website quoted a source as saying Burns would also meet Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani as well as Barnea.
Axios said Israeli negotiators developed in recent days a "new proposal" to renew the captive talks which includes "some compromises" in Israel's position compared to the last round of negotiations in Cairo.
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