The chief of the American spy agency, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns has offered intel on Hamas military head Yahya Sinwar in exchange of Israel halting its ground invasion in the Rafah region.
Sinwar, who has been on Israel’s hit list ever since the war broke out on October 7 with Hamas, is reportedly hiding in the tunnel network of the terror outfit between Khan Younis and the Rafah region.
The United States has been pushing the Israeli leadership against a full-scale ground invasion in Rafah, given the huge population density in the area with around 1.3 million people including women and children staying there.
William Burns is a highly respected official of the US who has close links with several senior Middle Eastern leaders. Burns, according to sources in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, has proposed to the Israeli leadership that American intelligence will provide valuable inputs on the movement of Yahya Sinwar who has always been a focus of the Israeli side.
Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant has publicly stated that they would secure Yahya Sinwar at any cost.
The CIA chief, according to sources, is also in direct talks with Mossad and Shin Bet chiefs, David Barnea and Ronen Bar respectively, regarding this offer.
Burns was involved in the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas during the one-week ceasefire in the last week of November 2023.
It, however, remains to be seen how the Israel war cabinet will respond to this offer as Israel Defense Forces have already commenced the invasion in Rafah.