Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
Biden "stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal," it said.
Netanyahu updated Biden on progress in the talks and on the mandate he has given his top-level security delegation in Doha in order to advance a hostage deal, Netanyahu said in a statement.
Jake Sullivan says Israeli and Hamas delegations are moving toward a truce and hostage release deal. (AP PHOTO)
The two leaders also discussed "the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the (Bashar al-)Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran's power in the region," the White House said.
Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN earlier on Sunday that the parties were "very, very close" to reaching a deal but still had to get it across the finish line.
He said 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.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just spoken with US President Joe Biden.— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) The PM discussed with the President the progress in negotiations to release our hostages and updated him on the mandate he gave to the negotiating team to Doha to advance the release of our hostages.January 12, 2025
"We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done," Sullivan said, "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 on January 20 but that it was also possible "Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent".
During their call, Netanyahu also thanked Biden for his lifelong support of Israel and "the extraordinary support from the United States for Israel's security and national defence," the White House said.
Israel launched its assault in the Gaza Strip after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, 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 Fox News in an interview taped on Saturday that he expects a deal for the release of US 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 has strongly backed Netanyahu's goal of destroying Hamas.
He has promised to bring peace to the Middle East but has not said how he would accomplish that.
