By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, a source familiar with the matter said, as U.S. officials race to reach a ceasefire agreement and of hostage-taking in Gaza before Biden leaves office on January 20.
Biden and Netanyahu discussed ongoing efforts to reach a deal to end fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining 98 hostages held there, the source said.
Netanyahu briefed Biden on the progress made and the mandate he gave to his high-level security delegation currently in Doha to advance a hostage deal, Netanyahu said in a statement.
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that the sides were “very, very close” to reaching an agreement, but that they still had to cross the finish line.
He said Biden was receiving daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in indirect talks between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
“We are still committed to using every day we have in office to get this done,” Sullivan said, “and we are not putting that aside, far from it.”
He said there was still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but it was also possible that “Hamas, in particular, will remain intransigent.”
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave devastated and in the grip of a humanitarian crisis, and most of its population displaced.
Vice President-elect JD Vance told the Fox News Sunday program in a taped interview Saturday that he expects a deal to release U.S. hostages in the Middle East will be announced in the final days of the Biden administration, perhaps during the final days of the Biden administration. last day or two.
President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has strongly supported Netanyahu’s goal of destroying Hamas. He promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but did not specify how he would achieve it.
