US NSA to visit Israel for talks on ceasefire

Chennai, May 19 The National Security Advisor (NSA) of the US, Jake Sullivan will reach Tel Aviv on Sunday on a two-day visit and hold a series of meetings with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and the chiefs of Mossad and Shin Bet.

The arrival of Sullivan assumed significance after the US publicly admitted that there was no progress in the indirect peace talks so far.

Jake Sullivan will be, according to senior US officials, exploring other ways to take forward the indirect peace talks to end the war and release all the 128 hostages in the custody of Hamas.

The US is for a six-week ceasefire and the release of a batch of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. However, Hamas wants a complete end to the war which Israel may never agree to.

The US has opposed any military action in the Rafah region of Gaza and has asked the Israeli side to refrain from a major attack in the region as it is densely populated with more than 1.3 million people, including women and children, inhabiting the region. The US believed that this would lead to heavy casualties and would not help end the war.

Sullivan, according to the US officials, in Israel is likely to bring up alternate solutions to bring hostages back home and to systematically end the war.

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