Scoop: Top Biden adviser quietly visits Qatar to discuss hostage talks, regional tensions

Between the lines: The White House and the Qatari government kept the trip very low profile. They didn't announce McGurk's visit and didn't issue a readout of his meeting with the Qatari prime minister.

• The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment and the Qatari Embassy in Washington, D.C., declined to comment.

Driving the news: Qatar, together with Egypt, is trying to mediate between Israel and Hamas on a new hostage deal. The hostages still being held in Gaza include several Americans.

• Israel and Hamas have given proposals for a deal but wide gaps remain.
• Negotiations resumed earlier this week after Hamas suspended the talks for several days over Israel's killing of Hamas official Saleh Al-Arouri in Beirut, according to sources briefed on the issue.

The big picture: McGurk's trip follows a visit by Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who is on a regional tour to discuss the war in Gaza and escalating tensions across the Middle East.

• Blinken met on Tuesday in Tel Aviv with the families of the American hostages held in Gaza. Blinken emphasized that bringing all the hostages home to their families is a top priority of the administration, according to a statement by the families.
• "We're intensely focused on bringing the remaining hostages home," Blinken told reporters Tuesday.
• Blinken also discussed the hostage issue with the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet spy agencies in Israel.

Go deeper: Qatar tells hostages' families that getting deal harder after Hamas leader's killing