US President Joe Biden received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Then, the two met with the families of hostages kidnapped by Hamas. Netanyahu also spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris. The main point of the talks was the negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
In a brief welcome speech in the Oval Office, attended by reporters, the Prime Minister Israel Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the president USA Joe Biden for 50 years of public service and 50 years of supporting Israel.
Netanyahu also expressed hope for fruitful cooperation with Biden in the final months of his term in office. “We have a lot to discuss,” the American president said.
Biden and Netanyahu did not answer numerous questions from the press and moved to a closed part of the meeting.
It is their first in-person meeting since the U.S. president visited Israel days after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that killed nearly 1,200 people and started the war in the Gaza Strip. Ongoing efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the conflict and free Israeli hostages kidnapped in the attack are a major focus of the talks.
President Joe Biden hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuSAMUEL CORUM/PAP/EPA
“These were tough negotiations, we made progress, the framework for the agreement is in place. We now need to reconcile the final differences and reach an agreement,” explained US diplomatic spokesman Matthew Miller, as quoted by the Times of Israel.
The talks between delegations of both sides led by the leaders included, among others, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivanand on the Israeli side, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi.
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US government sources said on Wednesday that ceasefire talks were nearing an end. US officials had previously made similar announcements, but the agreement was not signed at the last minute because of disagreements between the sides, Reuters reported.
Harris: I will not be silent
Netanyahu also met with Kamala Harris, vice president and the Democratic Party’s near-certain candidate for president in November. Harris has said she shares Biden’s views on Israel and Gaza, but many observers say she is more critical of Israel than the incumbent president.
“Israel has the right to defend itself, but what matters is how it exercises that right. I have expressed my grave concerns about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Harris told reporters after a 40-minute conversation with the Israeli prime minister.
– What is happening there is devastating, we cannot turn a blind eye to these tragedies. This suffering cannot paralyze us; I will not remain silent – she emphasized
American support for the war in Gaza, in which more than 39,000 Palestinians have died, has divided the Democratic Party and sparked a wave of protests in the United States.
Main image source: PAP/EPA/KENNY HOLSTON/POOL