CIA Director William Burns and high-ranking officials of Egypt, Qatar and Israel met in Paris on Sunday to discuss a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip, sources close to the participants in the negotiations said, according to France Presse. adopted by Agerpres

The four countries have also been in contact with French authorities to push for an agreement that would have included a cessation of hostilities and the release of hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas.

US President Joe Biden has sent the CIA director to Paris for talks with his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts, as well as the Qatari prime minister, a security source in Washington said on Friday.

Regarding the traces of the agreement, which is being discussed in Paris, the New York Times writes about a possible truce that will last 30 days and will allow the release of women, the oldest hostages and the wounded. During that 30-day period, according to the same newspaper, the parties will discuss the details of extending the truce for another 30 days, during which the male hostages and soldiers will be released by Hamas. The agreement also provides for the release of some Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

About 250 people were captured and taken to the Gaza Strip by Hamas during the October 7 invasion of southern Israel. About a hundred of these hostages were released in late November during a ceasefire in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. But 132 hostages still remain in Gaza, with 28 reportedly dead.

During the attack on October 7, about 1,140 people died in Israel, most of them civilians. According to the latest report, Israel immediately retaliated and vowed to “destroy” the Palestinian Islamist movement in power in Gaza and launched a massive military operation that has so far killed 26,422 Palestinians, most of them women, children and teenagers. Ministry of Health in the Palestinian enclave.