Sullivan meets with PM, ministers and top security officials in US push for hostage deal

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top officials in Jerusalem amid what is seen to be the Biden administration’s final push for a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Pictures released by the Prime Minister’s Office show Sullivan meeting with top ministers, in addition to defense officials including Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Mossad head David Barnea, and the government point man on the hostages, Gal Hirsch.

After meetings in Israel, Sullivan is set to travel to Qatar and Egypt — the two Arab countries mediating between Israel and Hamas along with the US.

Ninety-six of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.