Biden likely to talk with Netanyahu; hostage deal 'very close,' security adviser says

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will likely talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu soon, his national security adviser said on Sunday, as U.S. officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.

Jake Sullivan told CNN's "State of the Union" program that the parties were "very, very close" to reaching a deal to halt the fighting in the enclave and free the remaining 98 hostages held there, but still had to get it across the finish line.

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 militant group Hamas, Sullivan said.

"We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done," he said, adding that Biden "is likely, in the near term, to engage with Prime Minister Netanyahu, 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."

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.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, and most of its population displaced.

Vice President-elect JD Vance told the "Fox News Sunday" program 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.

President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has strongly backed Netanyahu's goal of destroying Hamas. Hehas promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but has not saidhow he would accomplish that.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Bill Berkrot)