Ronen Neutra, the father of Israeli-American citizen Omer Neutra who was kidnapped by Hamas to Gaza on October 7, spoke to Ynet on Sunday night, after the virtual meeting that families of hostages with US citizenship help with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Neutra said that Sullivan made it clear to the families that the negotiations for a hostage deal are ongoing, and that they hope they will be concluded within a few weeks.
"They also worked this week on the details, but they claim that the deal is progressing despite everything that has been reported," Neutra added. "We pressured them to call on Hamas and Israel to accept the American mediation offer and we demanded answers from them regarding all kinds of issues, but we know that President Biden and his team are very determined in their goal of bringing about a deal and ending the war."
The White House said in a statement summarizing Sunday’s virtual meeting that “Sullivan discussed the heartbreaking news of the six hostages killed by Hamas, including American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.”
“Sullivan discussed the ongoing diplomatic push across the highest levels of the U.S. government to drive towards a deal that secures the release of the remaining hostages. He emphasized President Biden’s and his Administration’s deep commitment to bring the families’ loved ones home as soon as possible,” the statement added.
On Saturday, Biden commented in a conversation with reporters on the efforts to achieve a ceasefire and hostage release deal, saying, "It's time this war ended…I think we're on the verge of having an agreement."
He said he was "still optimistic" about the prospects of an agreement and added that "people are continuing to meet."
"We think we can close the deal, they've all said they agree on the principles," said Biden.
Biden has been pushing an outline for a ceasefire and hostage release deal that he first laid out in May.
Last Sunday, two Egyptian security sources told Reuters that talks over a possible ceasefire in Gaza and hostage release deal ended without agreement in Cairo.
Later, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States is still “feverishly” working in Cairo toward reaching a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release deal.