The US President, Joe Biden, is expected to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as soon as possible in order to reach a ceasefire deal before he leaves office on January 20.
This was according to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Jake Sullivan, on Sunday.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Sullivan revealed that the two conflicting groups are “very, very close” to securing a deal to halt the ongoing war in Gaza that will see the release of the 98 remaining hostages held by Hamas.
“We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done,” he said,
According to him, the president “is likely, in the near term, to engage with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside.”
“There is still a chance for an agreement, but Hamas could remain intransigent,” Sullivan warned
The NSA confirmed that Biden is receiving daily updates on the progress of indirect negotiations taking place in Doha between Israeli and Palestinian representatives for an agreement between both parties.
Meanwhile, Vice President-elect JD Vance in an interview with Fox News aired on Sunday, said he expects a deal for the release of the hostages in the Middle East to be announced in the final days of the Biden administration.
President-elect Donald Trump has strongly backed Netanyahu’s goal of destroying Hamas.
Ahead of his Inauguration on January 20, Trump has promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but has not said how he would accomplish that.
The war in Gaza escalated following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, while claiming about 1200 lives with over 250 hostages kidnapped.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, a data deemed as reliable by the United Nations.
