Biden says talks with Qatari, Egyptian negotiators to secure hostage-ceasefire deal are ongoing

US President Joe Biden says talks to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal are ongoing, after a meeting with American negotiators earlier in the day.

“We’re in the middle of negotiations,” he says, when asked what more needs to be done to secure an agreement between Israel and Hamas, according to a White House statement.

Asked about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden again says, “We’re still in negotiations — not with him, but with my colleagues from Qatar and from Egypt.”

Earlier today, Biden said that Netanyahu was not doing enough to secure a deal for the release of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, while revealing that his administration was “very close” to presenting a final hostage deal offer later this week.