U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House 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 underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
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US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Prime Minister's Office)
Biden "stressed the immediate need for a cease-fire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal," it said.
Netanyahu updated Biden on progress in the talks and on the mandate he has given his top-level security delegation now in Doha in order to advance a hostage deal, Netanyahu said in a statement.
The two leaders also discussed "the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the cease-fire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran's power in the region," the White House said.
Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN's State of the Union earlier on Sunday that the parties were "very, very close" to reaching a deal, but still had to get it across the finish line.
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He said Biden was getting daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas.
"We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done," Sullivan said, "and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside."
He said there was still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but that it was also possible "Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent."
During their call, Netanyahu also thanked Biden for his lifelong support of Israel and "the extraordinary support from the United States for Israel's security and national defense," the White House said.
Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
US Vice President-elect JD Vance on Gaza cease-fire
(Video: Fox News)
U.S. Vice President-elect JD Vance told Fox News Sunday in an interview taped on Saturday that he expects a deal for the release of U.S. hostages in the Middle East to be announced in the final days of the Biden administration, maybe in the last day or two.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has strongly backed Netanyahu's goal of destroying Hamas. He has promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but has not said how he would accomplish that.