CIA chief meets Egypt's Sisi on Gaza truce efforts

CAIRO

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met CIA director William Burns Tuesday in Cairo, where U.S. and Israeli delegations discussed efforts for a Gaza truce.

Sisi's office said the two men "discussed the latest developments in joint efforts to reach a truce and ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip," where Israeli troops, backed by tanks and warplanes, stepped up their operations in Gaza City on Monday.

Mediators Egypt and Qatar have been engaged in months of negotiations aimed at reaching a truce and hostage release deal for Gaza.

The talks have intensified in recent days after Hamas signalled it was ready to drop its insistence on a lasting Israeli ceasefire in the first phase of any truce deal.

Israel launched its war on Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,190 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli official figures.

Hamas seized 251 hostages. Of these 116 remain in Gaza, although the army says 42 of them are dead.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 38,200 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.