Joe Biden signaled that a deal to free Hamas-held hostages in Gaza could be imminent, as he suggested Israel had agreed to a “pause”.
The US president said: “I don’t want to get ahead of myself here... but we have gotten great cooperation from the Qataris”, a key intermediary between Israel and Hamas.
Mr Biden noted the “pause the Israelis have agreed to” as he described progress toward a deal, before cutting himself off as his US secretary of state Anthony Blinken shook his head and looked uneasy. The president went on to say: “I’m going to stop. But I am mildly hopeful.”
Mr Biden made the comments during a rare solo press conference in northern California following a four-hour summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping.
He said he was “doing everything in my power” to secure the release of around 240 people who were seized by Hamas during their October 7 attacks, but ruled out US military involvement.
Mr Biden also defended Israeli military action, arguing Hamas was committing war crimes by basing its military headquarters under a hospital.
He said Israel had gone into Gaza’s biggest hospital, Al Shifa, with a limited number of troops with guns, and was not carpet-bombing the site.
“They were told,” Mr Biden began, before immediately correcting himself: “Let me be precise. We’ve discussed the need for them to be incredibly careful”.