CIA and MI6 heads discuss Gaza ceasefire efforts, Russian threat in unprecedented joint public appearance in London

London CNN —

CIA chief Bill Burns said Saturday he hoped to have a “more detailed” hostage and ceasefire proposal to put before Israel and Hamas negotiators in the coming days, but stressed that its success would come down to “political will” on their part.

He spoke at an unprecedented joint public event with Richard Moore of the UK’s foreign intelligence service, known as MI6, at the FT Weekend Festival. The pair stressed the importance of the two countries’ intelligence partnership at a time when the global order is under threat, particularly from Russian aggression. They also endorsed Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk region, with Moore saying that it changed the narrative, and Burns that it was a significant tactical achievement.

Speaking on the ongoing negotiations to secure a ceasefire-and-hostage deal in Gaza, Burns said that the US was working very hard with regional mediators to get both Israel and the militant group Hamas to agree on a peace plan. However, he said that despite all the work that needs to be done, an end to the war in Gaza is “ultimately a question of political will.”

Men walk through debris in a building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in the north of Gaza City on September 3.

Related article Major roadblocks in Gaza ceasefire talks raise doubts over whether war can be ended before Biden leaves office

Currently, Burns said, the US is working with mediators in Egypt and Qatar to refine a framework proposed by Biden in May and “put it in a form, a good enough proposal” that both the Israeli and Hamas leaderships will see the value in moving ahead with it.

He stressed that in his experience with Middle East negotiations, “perfect is never on the menu,”