President Biden on Monday said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure a hostage deal, adding pressure on the Israeli leader to reach a cease-fire agreement after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza over the weekend.
Biden was asked by reporters outside the White House on Monday if Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a hostage release agreement, to which he said, “No.”
When asked if mediators are prepared to present a final hostage deal this week to both Israel and Hamas, Biden said, “We are very close to that,” adding, “Hope springs eternal.”
Biden made the remarks as he arrived at the White House for a Situation Room meeting with advisers involved in cease-fire and hostage deal negotiations.
The comments come a day after Israel’s military confirmed it recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a native of Berkeley, Calif.
The Israeli military said Sunday the six hostages were killed by Hamas shortly before forces reached them in an underground tunnel in Rafah. The autopsies found the hostages were shot at close range and died either Thursday or Friday, The Associated Press reported.
Read more at TheHill.com
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