State Dept. says Biden telling Netanyahu it’s time to seal Gaza deal

WASHINGTON — The US message to Israel in President Joe Biden’s ongoing meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is that it’s time to bring the hostage release and ceasefire deal over the line, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says.

“We need to get this deal over the line. We’ve been working on it for some time. It’s been a tough negotiation. We’ve made progress. We’ve got a framework for an agreement done. We now need to bridge the final differences and get a deal in place so we can all move forward,” Miller says in a briefing with reporters.

Biden is joined by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer, US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk and White House special envoy Amos Hochstein.

Joining Netanyahu are Strategic Affairs Minsiter Ron Dermer, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog, Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman, the premier’s military secretary Roman Gofman and his foreign policy adviser Ophir Falk.