US Special Coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk was scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss using a potential ceasefire in Lebanon as a stepping stone toward a similar agreement to halt hostilities in Gaza, the White House said on Monday.
Deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday that the talks in Saudi Arabia will focus on a Lebanon ceasefire deal as a “catalyst” for a ceasefire agreement with the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza that would include releasing the 101 hostages still held by terrorists in Gaza.
Fifty-one of the hostages are still alive, according to the latest Israeli intelligence assessments. Ninety-seven were kidnapped in the Hamas terror invasion of the northwestern Negev on October 7, 2023.
Given the intense military pressure on Gaza and the harsh conditions the hostages have endured for over a year, officials fear the actual number of survivors might be even lower.
The Israeli Cabinet was set to vote on a US-negotiated ceasefire proposal with Lebanon on Tuesday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the deal “in principle”, CNN reported Monday.
John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser, told reporters at a briefing on Monday that an agreement to end the fighting between Israel and Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah was “close,” but not a done deal.
“We believe that the trajectory of this is going in a very positive direction,” said Kirby. “But nothing is done until it’s all done, and it’s not done right now.”