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By Andrea Shallal
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 Gaza hostage and cease-fire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.
Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts to end the war in the Palestinian territories and reach an agreement to release the remaining 98 hostages, the source said.
Netanyahu updated Biden on his order to the top security envoy in Doha to advance the hostage deal.
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday that the parties were “very, very close” to reaching an agreement, but still had to reach the finish line.
Israeli and Palestinian officials said there had been some progress in indirect talks between Israel and the militant group Hamas since Thursday, and Biden said he was receiving daily updates on the talks in Doha.
“We’re still committed to using every day we’re in the office to do that, and we’re not going to put that aside in any way,” Sullivan said.
He said there was still a chance a deal could be reached before Biden leaves office, but that “Hamas is particularly intransigent.”
In the year In October 2023, Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters breached its border, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, much of the area has been destroyed and a humanitarian crisis has taken hold, and most of its population has been displaced.
Vice President-elect JD Vance told the Fox News Sunday program in a taped interview Saturday that he expects a deal to free American hostages in the Middle East to be announced in 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. Heha promised to bring peace to the Middle East but did not say how he would achieve it.
