By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a source familiar with the matter said, as U.S. officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal. before Biden leaves office on January 20.

Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts to reach an agreement to end fighting in the Palestinian enclave and release the remaining 98 hostages held there, the source said.

Netanyahu updated Biden on progress and the mandate he gave his top-level security delegation today in Doha to advance a hostage deal, Netanyahu said in a statement.

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday that the parties are “very close” to reaching an agreement, but they still need to get it over the line. to finish.

He said Biden was receiving daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas.

“We’re still determined to use every day we’re in the office to get this done,” Sullivan said, “and we’re not, by any stretch of the imagination, giving it up.”

He said there is still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but it is also possible that “Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent.”

Israel launched its attack on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed 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 most of the enclave destroyed 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 an agreement for the release of US hostages in the Middle East to be announced in the final weeks. day of the Biden administration, maybe the last day or two.

President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has strongly supported Netanyahu’s goal of destroying Hamas. He promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but did not say how he would do it.