WASHINGTON, Jan 14: A Gaza truce and hostage release deal is close and could be finalized in the final week of US President Joe Biden's term, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Monday.
"We are close to a deal, and it can get done this week. I'm not making a promise or prediction, but it is there for the taking, and we are going to work to make it happen," Sullivan told reporters.
Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday and called the ruler of mediator Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on Monday as negotiations intensified.
The US leader has been pushing to get a deal between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas before he leaves office on January 20 and hands over to Donald Trump.
Sullivan said he was more hopeful of a deal now than he was on previous occasions since the Gaza war broke out following Hamas's October 6, 2023 attack on Israel.
"It's because the gaps have fundamentally narrowed down," said Sullivan, Biden's top national security official.
Progress had been made on issues including the formula for the exchange of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and on how Israel's forces would be "postured" in Gaza, he said.
Sullivan credited the fact that Israel had achieved its military objectives in Gaza, while Hamas has suffered "catastrophic losses".
"When you put those two factors together, we believe that the time is right to get a deal and to have to close," Sullivan said. —AFP
