U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is scheduled to travel to Israel on Thursday for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior government officials, Ynet reported on Monday.
Sullivan’s visit will coincide with a meeting of the Security Cabinet at the Israel Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv.
According to the report, the Biden administration official will discuss the Lebanon ceasefire, the sudden fall of the Syrian regime and developments in hostage talks with Hamas.
In addition to the meeting with Netanyahu, Sullivan is planning to sit down with Defense Minister Israel Katz and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, as well as with his Israeli counterpart Tzachi Hanegbi.
Sullivan is also slated to visit Qatar and Egypt during his trip to the Middle East, where he will participate in talks on securing a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office earlier on Monday denied a Qatari report that a “serious” advance had been made in indirect negotiations between Jerusalem and Hamas for a ceasefire deal that would include the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian terrorists.
“These reports are not true,” the Hostage Affairs Directorate in Netanyahu’s office said in a message sent to captives’ families.
The London-based, Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed outlet had reported that negotiations between Israel and Hamas had reached an advanced stage, with the terror group identifying the hostages and terrorists set to be swapped as part of a ceasefire.
According to the report, Hamas handed mediators an initial list of the Israeli hostages to be included in a forthcoming exchange deal. The report suggested that those who needed medical treatment and the elderly were first on the list, along with four captives with U.S. citizenship.
On-and-off indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas to renew last year’s hostage release agreement have dragged on for months, with the United States, Egypt, Qatar and others acting as intermediaries.
According to official figures, 96 of the 251 hostages who were taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault remain in Gaza after 430 days.
The Palestinian terrorist group is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the coastal enclave in 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed during “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014.
