The US is trying to push for a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. (Source: New York Post)

AP news agency quoted the White House announcement as saying that Mr. Sullivan mentioned the above issue after high-level diplomatic activities over the weekend, in which he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Dharan on May 18, before going to Israel to meet Prime Minister Netanyahu and senior officials of this country.

During talks in Israel, Mr. Sullivan also called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to link his country's military campaign in Gaza to a "political strategy" for a better future for the Palestinian territory.

Meanwhile, Saudi media reported that the White House national security adviser and Crown Prince Mohammed discussed a "semi-formal" version of an agreement expected to strengthen security ties between the two countries.

The agreement is seen as a key part of US efforts to bring Saudi Arabia towards a major deal that would recognise the State of Israel for the first time, efforts that have been hampered by the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip.

The White House statement emphasized that at the meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Mr. Sullivan "reiterated President Joe Biden's long-standing position on the Rafah issue."

The Biden administration has urged Israel to avoid a large-scale attack on the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Washington recently halted bomb shipments to its longtime ally over concerns that the bombs could be used in Rafah.

Israel has maintained that a military campaign is the best way to destroy Hamas and rescue the hostages. The US hopes that Hamas will be defeated diplomatically rather than militarily, by tying the future of Gaza to a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh has long called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along Israel's 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Saudi Arabia has insisted it will not establish diplomatic relations with the Middle Eastern country without that condition, along with an end to its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.