Jerusalem, Dec 15 (EFE).- Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that he had a telephone conversation with United States President-elect Donald Trump Saturday night, which he described as “very friendly, very warm and very important,” regarding the Middle East situation.
“We talked about the need to complete Israel’s victory,” said Netanyahu, who gave no further details, even though he did refer to it in a video statement loaded with references to his enmity with Iran, as well as the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and his operations on Syrian territory last week.
The two leaders also discussed Israel’s efforts to free Hamas hostages in Gaza. Although both sides said they feel optimistic about the new round of negotiations in Cairo, no more details were revealed.
“The less we talk about it, the better, and with God’s help, we will succeed,” Netanyahu said.
In more than a year of war, Hamas and Israel have reached only one ceasefire and hostage release agreement last November, which saw the release of 105 of the 251 kidnapped on Oct. 7 in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Since then, negotiations for a new ceasefire have been unsuccessful, and some former members of the Israeli government, such as opposition politician Benny Gantz and former defense minister Yoav Gallant (sacked in early November), have accused Netanyahu of blocking the deal for political reasons.
However, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who visited the region three days ago, said that the president was “willing” to reach an agreement.
Sullivan confirmed that Netanyahu does not seem to be waiting for Donald Trump’s return to the White House (Trump’s inauguration is on Jan. 20, 2025) to sign the agreement with Hamas and that the US is seeking to conclude the deal before the end of December.
The tycoon wrote through his social media accounts at the beginning of December that he would unleash “hell” in the Middle East if the Hamas hostages were not released before his return to the presidency in January 2025. EFE
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