White House says Biden will discuss closing on 'final gaps' of ceasefire, hostage release deal in Netanyahu meeting
President Biden will discuss how to close on the "final gaps" of a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a high-stakes meeting on Thursday, according to a U.S. official.
Biden will meet with Netanyahu and the families of hostages held in Gaza on Thursday. Vice President Harris, who Biden has endorsed for the 2024 Democratic presidential race after bowing out of re-election, will also meet with Netanyahu on Thursday in a separate meeting.
The meetings will involve a "very substantive, very detailed discussion" on a ceasefire and hostage release deal currently under negotiation between Hamas and Israel, the U.S. official said.
"What I expect the conversation to be tomorrow is about these remaining gaps and kind of how we close them, and what the parameters are," the person said.
The official added that the framework of the deal is there and they only need to work out the details, although the agreements so far are only for the first phase of the deal, which involves releasing the most vulnerable hostages for Palestinian prisoners, along with a temporary ceasefire.
"You're now in the implementation arrangements about how it'll actually work day to day," the official said. "So that is a pretty intense negotiation. It's actually ongoing but again, we think the pieces are coming together, and it's time to move to close this out."
A second phase will be negotiated during the first, but it would include negotiations on how to end the war and release the remaining hostages.
The official said any lingering issues for the first phase are "resolvable" and are not "unbridgeable problems."
"What is left is bridgeable, and is not something that's going to take an indefinite period to actually bridge," the person said, saying there would be a "lot of activity" in the coming week.
Netanyahu addressed Congress on Wednesday in a nearly hour-long speech that called for the U.S. and Israel to stand by each other against Iran. The Israeli leader said he was "confident" in reaching a deal to free hostages but otherwise did not address the topic in the speech.
Hamas kidnapped some 250 hostages on Oct. 7, when Palestinian fighters invaded southern Israel and killed some 1,200 people. Around 116 hostages remain in Gaza, about 44 of whom the Israeli military believes are dead. Ongoing negotiations involve discussions on the return of remains.
More than 39,000 people have died in Gaza as Israel fights against Hamas in the tiny coastal strip.