Biden takes jab at Netanyahu over handling of hostage deal talks

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that a final deal on the release of the hostages held by the Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza Strip was “very close,” while criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not doing enough to secure such a deal.

“We’re very close to that,” Biden told reporters at the White House when asked if he was planning to submit a final proposal on a hostage deal to Israel and Hamas this week.

On whether such a deal would be successful, the president said, “Hope springs eternal.”

When pressed by reporters on whether he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal, Biden flatly said “no,” without elaborating.

Biden’s remarks came before he headed to the Situation Room, where he and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to meet with top US negotiators involved in the hostage talks later on Monday. The Situation Room is an intelligence management complex on the ground floor of the West Wing of the White House. According to the White House, the meeting will focus on ways to push for a deal that will free the remaining hostages. 

The meeting comes two days after the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who were taken by Hamas during its surprise assault on southern Israel Oct. 7, 2023.

Massive protests erupted Sunday night across Israel amid growing public anger against Netanyahu and his government for their failure to secure a hostage deal, drawing crowds of at least 500,000 people. A nationwide strike calling on authorities to conclude a deal was halted by a court order on Monday afternoon.

Netanyahu criticized the strike as “a disgrace,” reportedly saying that it shows support to Hamas, Israeli news outlets quoted him as saying during a Monday cabinet meeting.

‘Take it or leave it’ deal

Mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, the talks to reach a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip and secure the release of the hostages have so far failed to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas has repeatedly demanded that any agreement include a permanent cease-fire in the enclave and the complete withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza, which Israel rejects.

The issue of the Philadelphi Corridor has also hindered the talks, as Israel refuses to pull its troops out of the buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

On Sunday, The Washington Post reported that the US could withdraw from the cease-fire talks if Israel and Hamas fail to accept a final “take it or leave it” deal that Washington plans to present in the coming weeks.

“You can’t keep negotiating this. This process has to be called at some point,” a senior US administration official told the Post on condition of anonymity.

The official further stressed that the discovery of the bodies of the six hostages on Saturday “should add additional urgency in this closing phase, which we were already in.”

It remains unclear when a new round of talks will take place.

During their onslaught in southern Israel, Hamas militants took over 240 people hostage while killing nearly 1,200 others. A total of 110 hostages were released by Hamas during a brief seven-day truce late last November.

The Israel army also managed to rescue eight hostages during its ongoing military campaign inside Gaza, while three were killed by Israeli troops who mistook them for militants.

Israel now believes 101 are still held inside Gaza, including 35 who are believed to be dead.

Meanwhile, more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave.