US White House adviser Middle East to visit Egypt, Qatar this week for talks on Israeli genocidal war on Gaza

CAIRO – 21 January 2024: Senior US President Joe Biden’s adviser for the Middle East Brett McGurk is expected to visit both Egypt and Qatar this week for a possible prisoner swap deal between the Palestinians and Israelis, Axios reported on Sunday.

McGurk was appointed Biden’s adviser after the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli war on October 7 and travelled to the Middle East previously to discuss the war.

Egypt and Qatar have negotiated several proposals of prisoner swap deals between Palestinian prisoners and Israelis captives by Hamas. However, no final agreements have been reached except for only one-week truce, during which a prisoner exchange deal was executed.

The Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and aggression on the other Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Jerusalem claimed lives of 24,927 Palestinians since October 7, and injured 62,388 others, the majority of whom are women and children.