President Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday, aiming to close the remaining gaps in a Gaza cease-fire deal after months of fruitless negotiations.
The Biden administration believes the gap between Israel and Hamas is narrow enough to be closed if those issues can be worked out, a senior administration official said.
“It’s time to move to close that agreement,” the official told reporters Wednesday.
Optimism had built recently about a deal to pause the fighting in Gaza after Hamas showed flexibility on some contested language and Israeli security officials said the time is right to reach an agreement that would bring home some of the Oct. 7 hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave.The mood darkened as negotiations bogged down in debates over new demands that Israeli security officials and Arab negotiators say Netanyahu has raised late in the process.Arab negotiators say a number of issues remain in contention, including the number of live hostages to be released, control of the border between Gaza and Egypt, whether Israel will have a veto over which Palestinian prisoners can be released under the deal, and whether Israel will be able to resume fighting after the initial cease-fire.
“We are close,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House on Thursday, while the two leaders were meeting.
“We just have to finish it.”
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to meet with Netanyahu separately Thursday afternoon.
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