Eight days before the start of the incoming Trump Administration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nevertheless updated outgoing President Joe Biden on the latest status of the hostage release talks taking place in Doha.
Speaking with Biden from his office in Jerusalem, Netanyahu discussed the progress in the negotiations to release the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza.
The prime minister also updated Biden on the mandate he gave to the negotiating team to Doha in order to advance the hostages’ release, his office said in a brief statement.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked President Biden and President-elect Donald Trump for cooperating in this sacred mission,” the statement added.
According to a readout of the call from the White House, the negotiations in Doha are based on the May 27, 2024 arrangement described by Biden last year and endorsed unanimously by the United Nations Security Council.
“The president discussed the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region,” the readout said.
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,” according to the White House.
“The prime minister thanked the president for his lifelong support of Israel and for the extraordinary support from the United States for Israel’s security and national defense,” the readout added.
