William J. Burns, the CIA director, arrived in Israel on Sunday for discussions with leaders and intelligence officials, the first stop in a multicountry trip in the region, according to US officials, XQ informs, citing The New York Times.
The visit comes as the United States is trying to prod Israel to pursue a more targeted approach to attacking Hamas, allow pauses in the fighting for aid to enter Gaza, and do more to avoid civilian casualties.
The United States is also looking to expand its intelligence sharing with Israel, providing information that could be useful about hostage locations or any follow-on attacks by Hamas. A US official briefed on Mr. Burns’s trip said he planned to reinforce the American commitment to intelligence cooperation with partners in the region.
Mr. Burns will travel to several Middle Eastern countries for discussions about the situation in Gaza, ongoing hostage negotiations, and the importance of deterring the war with Hamas from widening to a broader context, the US official said.
Mr. Burns’s visit to Arab countries may be as important as his meetings in Israel. His exact itinerary is unclear, but he is expected to visit Jordan. Mr. Burns has a particularly close relationship with King Abdullah. He was the ambassador to Jordan when King Hussein died and Abdullah ascended to the throne. King Abdullah recently wrote a letter praising Mr. Burns’s diplomatic skills for a ceremony honoring the CIA director.
