US President Joe Biden said Monday he was close to presenting a final proposal for a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, adding that he did not think Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was doing enough to secure such a deal, reports " "Reuters", quoted by News.bg.
Biden spoke to reporters at the White House after Israeli forces pulled the bodies of six hostages, including 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Paulin, from a tunnel in Gaza over the weekend. The Israeli military reported that they were recently killed by Palestinian Hamas fighters.
Asked if he planned to present a final hostage deal to both sides this week, Biden said: "We are very close to it.
"Hope springs eternal," he added when asked if the deal would be successful.
The latest hostage deaths have drawn more criticism of the Biden administration's Gaza ceasefire strategy in the midst of the US presidential campaign, and increased pressure on Netanyahu from Israelis to return the remaining hostages home.
Asked if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal, Biden said "No". He did not give details.
Biden's new criticism of Netanyahu comes as he and Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced the president in the race for the Nov. 5 election, face heightened calls for decisive action to end the nearly 11-month war in Gaza.
p>The conflict is divisive among Democrats, with many progressives pressing Biden to limit or at least place conditions on US arms sales to Israel, Washington's main ally in the Middle East.
Biden and Harris are scheduled to meet Monday with the U.S. team negotiating the hostage deal to discuss efforts to reach an agreement on the release of the remaining captives.