Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday about efforts to reach a ceasefire and an agreement to release hostages in the war between Israel and Hamas, a sign that efforts to reach an agreement before the upcoming inauguration of Donald Trump will be reinforced.
Talks brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar last year repeatedly failed when they appeared to be close to an agreement. In recent days, U.S. officials have expressed hope of sealing a deal.
The call between Biden and Netanyahu on Sunday came as the head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence agency, David Barnea, and Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, were both in the Qatari capital of Doha. Barnea’s presence, confirmed by Netanyahu’s office, meant senior Israeli officials who would have to sign any agreement are now involved in talks.
McGurk has been working on the final details of a text to be presented to both sides, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN State of the Union. But he said he couldn’t predict whether a deal could be reached by Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.
“We are very, very close,” he said. “But being very close still means we’re far away, because until you actually get over the finish line, we’re not there yet.”
The White House and Netanyahu’s office both confirmed the phone call between the two leaders without providing details.
In the 15 months of war, only one short ceasefire was achieved, in the first weeks of fighting. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that a deal was “very close” and he hoped to finalize it before handing over diplomacy to the new Trump administration.
A phased ceasefire is currently being discussed, with Netanyahu signaling he is only committed to the first phase, a partial release of hostages in exchange for a weeks-long cessation of fighting.
Hamas insisted on a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the largely destroyed area, but Netanyahu insisted on destroying Hamas’s ability to fight in Gaza.
Talks to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas have resumed in Cairo, and sources close to the negotiations say an agreement could be signed in the coming days. Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip hope this round of talks will lead to an end to the war so that life can resume.
The discussions covered, among other things, the question of which hostages would be released in the first part of a gradual ceasefire agreement, which imprisoned Palestinians would be released and the extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from population centers in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry, whose count does not provide a breakdown between fighters and civilians.
Israel’s campaign was triggered by the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in which militants killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 others, according to Israel.
The families of around 100 hostages still held in Gaza are urging Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring their loved ones home. On Saturday evening, Israelis gathered again in the city of Tel Aviv and showed photos of hostages.
In Gaza, Palestinians dampened their hopes of an end to the Israeli campaign that has devastated much of the territory and forced more than 80 percent of its 2.3 million people from their homes.
“We hear every day that there are negotiations, but we don’t see anything,” said Mazen Hammad, a resident of the southern town of Khan Younis. “When we see it on the ground, we believe there is a ceasefire.”
