Burns detailed the “hellish” conditions that the hostages are facing in Gaza on NPR’s ‘All Things Considered.’
The White House is working under the belief that a deal to get hostages out of “hellish” conditions in Gaza can be achieved by President-elect Trump’s inauguration day, CIA Director William Burns told NPR on Friday.
Burns said that current negotiations between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the US and its regional partners, were “quite serious” and could possibly be wrapped up “within the next couple of weeks.”
“I do think there remains a chance to get a deal,” Burns told NPR’s Mary Louise Kelley. “This administration worked very hard at that right up until January 20. I think the coordination with the new administration on this issue has been good. President-elect Trump has made clear his interest in trying to get a deal, you know, before his inauguration.”
Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20, previously said: “If the hostages are not back by the time I’m in office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone.”
Burns went on to state that he believed that gaps in demands between Israel and Hamas had narrowed but that the ceasefire was about more than military logistics.
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, among demonstrators calling for a hostage deal, December 14, 2024. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)
Is the deal progressing?
“It’s about human beings. It’s about hostages held in hellish conditions, you know, in tunnels beneath Gaza,” Burns said. “It’s about their families with whom I meet regularly, which is a heartbreaking experience. And I have nothing but admiration for their bravery and determination.”
Burns also noted that Gazan civilians were also “suffering terribly, especially through this winter.”
The CIA director’s interview on All Things Considered comes in the middle of hostage negotiations. A source familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that negotiations were “progressing slowly” and that there has not been a general enough consensus to send Mossad Director David Barnea to Qatar.
“There’s every reason for political leaders to recognize that enough is enough,” Burns said. “Perfect is rarely on the menu in the Middle East, and, you know, it’s time to make a deal.
Reuters reported earlier this week that Hamas had released a list of 34 hostages to be exchanged in a potential deal. The Prime Minister’s Office denied the reports and told the Post that Israel had not received “any list from Hamas regarding the hostages; we don’t know which hostages are alive or what their conditions are.”
Earlier on Friday, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters that Hamas was “making it difficult,” hence why there is no hostage deal. He did not give further updates other than that the White House was “working on this really, really hard.”
Burns on Iran
The director also noted that the Iranian regime had made significant strategic blunders over the last six months.
“Its’ strategic position has suffered considerably over the course of the last six or seven months,” Burns said. “Two failed efforts to launch significant ballistic missile strikes against Israel, the collapse of its leading proxy, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the severe degradation of Hamas in Gaza, and then the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. All of that, I think, strategically puts the Iranian regime in a much weaker position.”
He further noted that Iran could reverse the 2003 decision to suspend its weapons program but that the US does not “see any sign today that any such decision has been made, but we obviously watch it intently.”
“That sense of weakness could also theoretically create a possibility for serious negotiations, too,” he noted.
Amichai Stein and Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report.
