Biden, Netanyahu discuss latest in effort to reach an Israel-Hamas war ceasefire

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP):

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden spoke yesterday about efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war, a sign of the intensifying push to reach a deal before Donald Trump's inauguration next week.

Talks mediated over the past year by the United States, Egypt and Qatar have repeatedly stalled at moments when they seemed close to a deal. Still, in recent days, US officials have expressed hope of sealing an agreement.

Yesterday's call between Biden and Netanyahu came as the head of Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency, David Barnea, and Biden's top Mideast adviser, Brett McGurk, were both in the Qatari capital Doha. Barnea's presence, confirmed by Netanyahu's office, meant high-level Israeli officials who would need to sign off on any agreement are now involved in talks.

McGurk has been working on final details of a text to be presented to both sides, Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told CNN's "State of the Union." But he said he would not predict whether a deal can be reached by January 20, the day of the inauguration.

"We are very, very close," he said. "Yet being very close still means we're far because until you actually get across the finish line, we're not there."