The administration of US President Joe Biden is closely coordinating with the team of President-elect Donald Trump to ensure the success of the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages between Israel and Hamas.
This close arrangement comes in the wake of a ceasefire deal in Lebanon and amid a major change in Syria, where Bashar Assad was overthrown over the weekend, ending a 50-year family dynasty.
The ongoing contacts between both teams also come a few weeks ahead of Trump’s January inauguration and while the Biden administration has initiated new diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis in the Gaza Strip.
In this regard, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Jordan and Türkiye, while US national security adviser Jake Sullivan plans stops in Israel, Qatar and Egypt in the coming days, according to officials.
US officials said the Biden administration wants to finally reach a ceasefire in its final weeks in office, while Trump has a desire to start his second term with both the Lebanon and Gaza conflicts wrapped up and the hostages held by Hamas released. Ceasefire talks have repeatedly collapsed over the past few months, undermining efforts to bring an end to the violence.
Blinken is returning to the Middle East this week for his 12th visit since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last year. This marks his first visit to the region since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Although his talks will focus largely on Syria, they will also touch on hopes for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza.
The State Department said Blinken would meet Jordanian officials, including King Abdullah II, in the port city of Aqaba on Thursday. He will fly after to Ankara for meetings with Turkish officials Friday.
Close Coordination
On Wednesday, five sources familiar with the conversations between both administrations told CNN there has been close coordination, with Trump’s team being kept apprised of the sensitive and painstaking work by Biden’s team.
They said the primary efforts are still being guided by Biden’s team and the two officials driving the ceasefire deal, CIA Director Bill Burns and the White House’s Brett McGurk.
Their counterpart in the Trump camp is Steve Witkoff, Trump’s recently named Middle East envoy.
Witkoff visited both Israel and Qatar at the end of November, two sources familiar with his travel said. In his meeting with the Qatari prime minister, a principal mediator of the talks, they discussed the war in Gaza and the potential for a ceasefire deal.
In a social media post last week, Trump proclaimed that he wanted the hostages to be released by the time he takes office, warning that otherwise: “There will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity.”
But Blinken sought to spin Trump’s warning, telling Reuters that the president-elect’s post was “a powerful reflection of the fact that we as Americans are determined to get the hostages back.”
“I think that’s a strong position across parties held by the United States, and we’re going to pursue every avenue we can in the time that we have left to try to get the hostages back and to get a ceasefire,” he added. “And I think the president-elect’s statement reinforces that.”
Despite sharp policy differences between Biden and Trump on countless issues, current administration officials have welcomed the president-elect’s support rather than seeing conflict in the work to try to support a hostage deal.
“Both the outgoing and incoming teams are in constant touch, so there will be a smooth transition,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday on CBS, adding that he spent “considerable time” briefing his expected successor, Republican Mike Waltz, on Syria over the weekend, according to CNN.
Possible Ceasefire
A year since the last truce in Gaza fell apart, participants in the talks are clear on their efforts but sober about their likelihood of success.
“I’m not going to sit here and describe the intricacies of the negotiations in public, but we very much believe a ceasefire is possible,” Jon Finer, Biden’s deputy national security adviser, said on CNN on Monday. “It’s a huge priority of this administration to try to achieve one.”
The other principal Middle East adviser Trump has named, Massad Boulos, said recently that the war is “practically over” and that only the question of a hostage deal remains, which should happen “immediately” and not be linked to any “day-after” plans.
“There might be some disagreement on certain Palestinians [to be released in the deal], but apart from that the two camps have agreed on the broad outlines of an agreement,” Boulos told French outlet Le Point.
The flurry of contact and travel by Biden and Trump officials will soon include a trip by Sullivan to Israel this week for talks on a range of issues, including Gaza. He follows James Rubin, a top deputy to Blinken, who visited Jerusalem last week.
Key members of Trump’s national security team – and the president-elect himself – have also been engaged with members of the Israeli government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Incoming national security adviser Waltz recently met in Washington with Netanyahu’s closest aide, Ron Dermer, according to one source familiar with the meeting.
The framework again under discussion reflects earlier efforts spearheaded by the Biden administration, Qatar and Egypt, in which a first “humanitarian” phase would see the remaining female, elderly and wounded hostages be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Türkiye is now involved in the discussions since Qatar closed the Hamas political office in Doha and much of the negotiating team decamped to Türkiye, according to a diplomat involved in the talks.
