Former US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan opened his Sunday CNN interview by crediting President Donald Trump and his team for the breakthrough Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal, while cautioning that success will be measured by implementation in the coming days.
“Of course he does,” Sullivan said when asked whether Trump deserves credit. “I give credit to President Trump, I give credit to [Steve] Witkoff and [Jared] Kushner and [Seceratary of State Marco] Rubio.
To get to something like today takes a village, and it takes determination and real hard work.” He added that the priority now is ensuring the agreement holds. “The question is, can we make sure this sticks as we go forward?”
Sullivan said he remains emotionally invested in the fate of the captives and their families and will not exhale until reunions happen and the first phase is fully carried out.
“I’m still holding my breath because I want to see those hostage families reunited with the hostages who have just been going through hell for almost two years,” he said. “It is a good thing that a ceasefire is in place, that the hostages will be coming out, that a surge of aid will be going in. I won’t feel totally comfortable until we actually see this thing fully implemented.”
Pressed on why a comparable deal did not materialize earlier, Sullivan argued that the situation on the ground changed significantly over the past year. He cited the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a halt to Hezbollah’s cross-border fire following a ceasefire, and the defeat of Iranian missile barrages.
“A year ago, things looked a heck of a lot different on the ground than they look today,” he said. According to Sullivan, when President Joe Biden left office, there was “a road map to get to exactly the point we are today,” but “a couple of months into the Trump administration … Israel walked away from that deal, and then the fighting went on for months and months.”
Hamas cannot remain in power.
Sullivan said the 20-point framework touted by the Trump administration largely tracks with concepts long discussed among US partners. “In concept, it’s pretty similar,” he said, listing core elements that have “been with us for quite some time”: Hamas cannot remain in power, a surge of internationally funded reconstruction for Gaza, an interim governance structure, strong Arab-state backing, a security force to keep the peace, and “a pathway to a two-state solution.”
On the thorniest element, Hamas disarmament, Sullivan urged realism about both politics and enforcement. Securing a formal commitment from Hamas would be difficult, he said, and even then “getting every one of them to give up their guns … will be quite challenging.” Israel, he added, can still ensure its security with international support “even if you haven’t gotten every last gun out of Gaza.”
Sullivan also addressed criticism of Israel’s conduct during the war, noting that evolving battlefield conditions affect judgments over time. He reiterated that a ceasefire was in place as early as January under a phased approach and suggested the deal might have been reached sooner.
“We could have had this in March, but that didn’t happen,” he said. “In April and May and June, July, August, September, it didn’t happen. Only now … we got into a deal after months and months under the Trump administration.” Both Israel and Washington, he said, will have to reflect on the delays.
Looking ahead, Sullivan said the United States will support efforts to lock in the ceasefire, expedite hostage releases, and scale up humanitarian assistance, while pushing for a political horizon. “There will be no long-term solution to this situation if there is not a credible pathway to a Palestinian state,” he said, adding that he hopes the administration “will stick by that.”
Throughout the interview, Sullivan balanced gratitude with caution. “We should all take a moment to have gratitude for this moment and hope that everything that unfolds from here is positive,” he said, before repeating that the test now is execution: to get the hostages out safely, keep the guns quiet, move aid in quickly, and create the time and space to tackle the harder steps that follow.