Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a special discussion Sunday evening devoted to the dramatic developments in Syria and to the issue of the hostages, following statements that now, after the cease-fire in the north, a deal for the hostages can be reached. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made similar statements but admitted in an interview that "We are not there yet."
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Visit between National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem in May
(Photo: David Azagury, U.S. Embassy Jerusalem)
In an interview with CBS' "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Sullivan referred to the psychological terror video released by Hamas of American Israeli hostage Edan Alexander. "That video was a cruel reminder of Hamas' brutality and of the fact that they are holding so many hostages from so many countries, including American citizens, including Americans like Edan. And we are doing everything we can to get those hostages home safely to their families," he said.
According to Sullivan in an interview with "Face the Nation," also on Sunday morning, “I do think that Hamas is feeling the pressure. They’re feeling the pressure because one of their main partners in crime here, Hezbollah, has now cut a cease-fire deal, and they thought that Hezbollah would be with them till the end. They’re feeling the pressure, of course, because their top leader, Sinwar, has been killed. So, they may be looking anew at the possibility of getting a cease-fire and hostage deal."
"And we are working actively with all of the key players in the region, including Israel and Turkey and Qatar and Egypt, to try to bring that about. In the coming days, conversations will be happening, even this very day, to try to make that happen as soon as possible,” he also said.
Hamas releases video of American Israeli hostage Edan Alexander
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"If the world can come together to increase the pressure on Hamas, we can finally break through, get a deal in place, get a ceasefire, get a surge of humanitarian assistance, and crucially, get those hostages, including those Americans, home safely to their families."
"I can't predict whether it's going to happen. What I can say is, there has been progress. There have been steps forward. There is a renewed sense that this is possible, but we've been here before where we thought we were close, it didn't pan out. And so I'm not going to get ahead of myself or make any predictions or provide false hope. What I will say is, we're driving at this with everything we've got. We think we have a chance, but we won't rest until we get it done," her added.