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Biden says Netanyahu isn’t doing enough to bring Israel’s hostages home

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Biden says Netanyahu isn’t doing enough to bring Israel’s hostages home

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden indicated Monday that he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should do more to seal a hostage deal and secure a cease-fire in Gaza.

Asked if Netanyahu should do more on the issue and whether he thinks the Israeli leader is currently doing enough, Biden offered a firm “no” as he spoke to reporters outside the White House.

He did not elaborate on the remarks.

Biden also told reporters that Middle East negotiators are “very close” to being able to present a final agreement to Israel and Hamas.

His comments came a day after the body of Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin was found in a tunnel under the city of Rafah. His funeral took place in Jerusalem on Monday.

Goldberg-Polin was one of six Hamas-held hostages whose bodies were recovered by Israel’s military on Sunday, prompting mass protests and a general strike that was intended to put pressure on Netanyahu to accept an agreement.

“I’ve spoken to the American hostage, I spoke to his mom and dad, and we’re not giving up. We’re going to continue to push as hard as we can,” Biden said.

In response to a request from USA TODAY for clarification on Biden’s remark on Netanyahu, a U.S. official said in a statement, “The President has been clear that Hamas is responsible for killing Hersh and the others, and Hamas leaders will pay for their crimes. He is also calling for urgency from the Israeli government in securing the release of the missing remaining hostages.”

Seven Americans are still believed to be among the 101 Hamas-held hostages, who were kidnapped from Israel by Hamas-led militants almost 11 months ago on Oct. 7, 2023. The Israeli government estimates that a third of the missing are dead.

Netanyahu, in televised remarks, said Monday after Biden’s comments that he’d asked for forgiveness from the families of the six recently deceased hostages. “I’m asking for your forgiveness that we didn’t manage to bring them back alive. We were very close, but we couldn’t make it,” he said in Hebrew, per a translation.

Biden was later asked by a reporter as he left the White House for a Labor Day event what he meant by his comment that Netanyahu needed to do more. He did not respond.

He pressed Netanyahu on part of the hostage deal under discussion during a call nearly two weeks ago. No calls have taken place between the two since, although a U.S. official said their teams have stayed in contact.

“We’re still in negotiations — not with him, but with my colleagues from Qatar and from Egypt,” Biden said on Monday afternoon in response to a question at Netanyahu’s press conference.

Negotiators have been going back and forth between Cairo for weeks in an attempt by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with U.S. national security officials in the Situation Room on Monday morning, shortly after Biden returned to the White House. In the afternoon, he flew to Pittsburgh to campaign for Harris.

When he arrived at the White House in the morning, Biden told reporters that he would be briefed on the demonstrations in Israel and would comment on them afterward.

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