The White House is actively working on a potential ceasefire and hostage release agreement in Gaza, though no deal has been finalized yet, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC. The announcement comes amid ongoing violence and high-level regional discussions about the crisis. “We are working actively to try to make it happen. We are engaged deeply with the key players in the region, and there is activity even today,” Sullivan said, according to an NBC transcript. “There will be further conversations and consultations, and our hope is that we can generate a ceasefire and hostage deal, but we’re not there yet,” he added. Sullivan emphasized President Joe Biden’s close coordination with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the matter. “He also spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu that day (of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire), and Prime Minister Netanyahu told him he agreed, the time is right. The moment is now,” Sullivan said, referring to efforts for a truce between Israel and Hamas. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan tells CNN that the ceasefire in Lebanon makes a deal to end the war in Gaza “more likely than it was before.” When asked if Sen. Lindsey Graham saying President-elect Trump wants a Gaza ceasefire deal before inauguration helps or hurts the negotiations, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says “the key thing motivating Hamas is not American politics or the American presidential transition.” But Sullivan adds “there has been very good coordination” between the Biden administration and the Trump transition team “on all of the aspects of the crisis in the Middle East.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)