The United States offers a new deal to try to stop the fighting between Israel and Hamas: CIA Director Bill Burns asks the terrorist group to release 40 hostages in exchange for a six-week ceasefire… while Netanyahu promises to go to Rafah

The United States is taking a new round of hostage negotiations “very seriously” after CIA Director Bill Burns visited Cairo and negotiators presented their latest offer to Hamas leaders.

“A proposal has been made to Hamas and we are waiting for a response from Hamas,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a phone call Monday.

The proposal came after a weekend of shuttle diplomacy, and negotiators were expected to have some time to convey the offer to Hamas amid Israel’s war on Gaza.

“We’re taking this very, very seriously and we really want to close the hostage deal as quickly as possible,” Kirby said.

“The administration is doing everything possible to negotiate an agreement that ensures the release of all hostages and leads to an immediate ceasefire, and there is simply no higher priority,” he said.

He declined to go into details of the offer, which comes amid continued U.S. pressure for another temporary ceasefire in exchange for the return of more hostages taken by Hamas fighters after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

axios reported that the latest offer would secure the release of 40 hostages in exchange for a ceasefire that would last 60 days.

The president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will meet with family members of the hostages at the White House later Monday.

A hostage deal is difficult but “doable,” Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said Monday after a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington.

‘It’s a tough deal. “This is an agreement that we may not like, but it is feasible and therefore needs to be reached,” he said.

The tense negotiations come after Biden delivered some of his most scathing criticism to date of Israel after the Israel Defense Forces killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in a missile attack.

The Biden administration continues to publicly and privately urge against an Israeli invasion of Rafah amid the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not backed down from his promise to invade, saying: “There is a date.”

He wants to insert a ground force as part of the effort to eliminate Hamas in Gaza, while Biden’s camp warns of serious risks to 1.4 million civilians.

‘It will happen. There is a date,” Netanayahu said in a videotaped statement.

The United States continues to push for more humanitarian aid amid widespread hunger in Gaza. Kirby said more than 300 aid trucks arrived yesterday, but the United States wants to see between 300 and 350 trucks a day.

The United States says there is still no credible plan to protect civilians during an invasion. Israel says it is purchasing 40,000 tents.