Netanyahu tells Sullivan he wants Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday that he wants to conclude the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, Israeli and U.S. officials said.
Why it matters: There are 100 hostages still being held in Gaza, including seven Americans.
- Israeli intelligence services believe roughly half of the hostages are still alive.
- Sullivan said at a press conference in Tel Aviv Thursday that the U.S. believes three of the Americans held in Gaza — Edan Alexander, Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen — are still alive.
Driving the news: Two weeks ago, Israel gave Hamas an updated proposal for a deal to release some of the remaining 100 hostages held by Hamas and begin a ceasefire in Gaza.
- Since then, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have been trying to bridge the gaps between the parties. Turkey has also been involved in the efforts.
- The director of the Israeli Mossad, David Barnea, met with Qatar's prime minister in Doha on Wednesday for negotiations, as Axios first reported.
- A senior Israeli official said Thursday that progress was made during Barnea's talks in Doha and that the Mossad director returned from Qatar with "a positive feeling that a deal is possible."
Behind the scenes: Sullivan met in Tel Aviv with Netanyahu and his team, and later had another meeting with the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence agencies, who are in charge of the negotiations.
- Netanyahu stressed to Sullivan that he is ready to implement the hostage and ceasefire deal immediately if Hamas "green lights" it, a senior Israeli official told Axios.
- "I got the sense from the prime minister he is ready to do a deal," Sullivan said at the press conference. "The prime minister indicated he wants to get it done."
- Sullivan said Hamas' "posture at the negotiation table" shifted after the announcement of the Lebanon ceasefire agreement, when Hamas realized Hezbollah wouldn't rescue them.
"From that moment forward, we had a different character to the negotiations and we believe it puts us in a position to close these negotiations," President Biden's national security adviser said.
- Sullivan added that another factor was a coordinated message between the Biden and Trump teams that both the president and president-elect want to see a deal.
- "We want to close this deal this month. I wouldn't be here today if I thought this is waiting until after January 20," he said.
- "It might not happen, but I believe it can happen with political will on both sides," Sullivan said, warning of the "increasing risk" with each day that passes.
