Sullivan: World must pressure Hamas to negotiate hostage deal

The international community must pressure Hamas to negotiate a hostage deal, United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, after Qatar suspended its mediator role.

“What we need to do is get the rest of the world to continue to increase pressure on Hamas to come to the table, to do a deal in Gaza, because the Israeli government has said it's prepared to take a temporary step in that direction,” Sullivan told CBS’s Face the Nation.

Qatar had blamed both Israel and Hamas for the absence of a deal to secure the release of the remaining 101 captives in Gaza. 

Netanyahu has also been under domestic pressure to meet Hamas’s terms of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a full IDF withdrawal from the enclave.

Sullivan, however, laid the blame squarely on Hamas, clarifying that the issue was that the group simply didn’t want to make a deal under any terms.

“Whatever Hamas is saying publicly, what they are communicating to the mediators is no, we will not do a cease-fire and hostage deal at this time,” he said. 

Hamas is what 'stands in the way' of a ceasefire 

“It is not Israel that is standing in the way of a cease-fire and hostage deal. It is Hamas. Israel has said it's prepared to do a temporary cease-fire for a number of hostages and then try to build on that to get all of the hostages home,” Sullivan said. 

He spoke as the Biden administration is making its final push for a deal before its tenure ends on January 20. 

Qatar and Egypt had been the main negotiators for the deal and Doha's departure has placed one more stumbling block into the process.