Top US security adviser projects cautious optimism about Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in Jerusalem that parties are “looking to close” a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal following meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top Israeli officials as he projected cautionary optimism about the potential for a deal in the next month.
Sullivan added that he will be traveling to Doha, Qatar, and Cairo, Egypt, to continue negotiations with other mediators involved in the talks as they seek to finalize a deal before President Joe Biden leaves office.
“I got the sense today from the Prime Minister — he’s ready to do a deal. And when I go to Doha and Cairo, my goal will be to put us in a position to be able to close this deal this month, not later. Now, we’ve been close before and haven’t gotten there, so I can’t make any promises or predictions to you, but I wouldn’t be here today if I thought this thing was just waiting till after January 20th,” Sullivan told reporters during a news conference at the US embassy in Jerusalem.
When asked by CNN’s Jeremy Diamond about reports over potential concessions that both sides have indicated they would make to secure a deal, Sullivan declined to provide any further details: “I can’t negotiate in public on the terms of the hostage deal.”
But Sullivan did stress that amid the seismic geopolitical shifts in the region following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and Israel’s ceasefire deal with Hezbollah have helped shift Hamas’ previous negotiating posture.
“There are any number of reasons for why contexts change in negotiations, especially in a situation as fluid as this, but I would point out that Hamas’ posture at the negotiating table did adapt following the announcement of the cease fire between Israel and Lebanon,” Sullivan told reporters. “When we got that cease fire, it was clear that the Northern Front had been decoupled from Gaza. And from that moment forward, we’ve had a different character to the negotiation, and we believe that it puts us in a position to be able to close this negotiation.”
Sullivan also stressed that the outgoing administration has been in close contact with president-elect Donald Trump’s team to send a “common message” amid the ongoing political transition in the US as they work to finalize a ceasefire and hostage deal.
“We’ve had, as I said in my opening comments, very good consultation and coordination with them, including on this issue, where we keep them apprised of how the negotiations are unfolding. We talk to them about how we can send a common message that the United States, no matter who is sitting in the Oval Office, no matter who’s parties is in charge, wants to see this ceasefire in hostage deal and see it now,” he said.
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