Sullivan is scheduled to meet Netanyahu and other Israeli officials on Thursday [Getty/file photo]
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is scheduled to begin a tour of the Middle East on Wednesday in a final attempt to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month, according to Axios.
The American news site said Sullivan would visit Israel and mediator states Egypt and Qatar to continue discussing a deal that could see a cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas.
Sullivan is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza, where more than 44,800 people have been killed since 7 October 2023 in an offensive that has resulted in mass displacement and famine.
Tel Aviv gave Hamas an updated ceasefire proposal last week that would see the release of some of the remaining captives in Gaza, according to two Israeli officials.
Trump’s warning earlier this month has put pressure on all sides involved in the war and mediators to reach an agreement soon, said Axios.
The incoming US president, who will be serving his second term in the White House, said: “There will be all hell to pay in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release the Israeli hostages still in its captivity before he takes office on 20 January.
Israeli officials said Hamas had shown more willingness and flexibility for a deal. Previous reports suggested the Palestinian group may even make concessions, such as dropping a key demand of Israel to pull out its forces immediately from Gaza, something the group had long said was non-negotiable.
“Until recently, the thinking in Israel was that Hamas doesn’t want a deal — now it seems that there is a shift and that Hamas may have changed its mind,” a senior Israeli official told Axios.
Israel says around 100 captives are still being held in Gaza, out of the more than 250 captured on 7 October last year.
Hamas wants to swap these captives for Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons, who are in the thousands – most of which are held without any charges against them and are kept in inhumane conditions, subject to physical and psychological abuse.
Sullivan met with the families of American captives in Gaza on Tuesday and reportedly told them that the Biden administration is working with Trump and his team to secure the safe release of all hostages. There are seven US nationals still being held in Gaza.
An Israeli security and defence team was simultaneously discussing the latest developments on Tuesday in Cairo, where talks focused on the names scheduled to be released by Israel and Hamas in the first phase of a swap deal, sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Other main issues such as the Rafah border crossing and security arrangements along the Gaza-Egypt border were also discussed. Israel has been in control of the area for months, stationing its forces and widening what is known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
Meanwhile, at least 22 Palestinians, including eight children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike overnight Wednesday near the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.
Attacks continued in the Jabalia and Nuseirat camps.
Gaza’s civil defence reiterated warnings of a health catastrophe in the enclave as bodies filled the streets amid more rubble. With hospitals barely functioning and humanitarian aid deliveries continuously hampered, thousands in the territory have very limited access to healthcare and other critical resources.
