President Joe Biden pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas as talks on a truce faltered. The US and Israeli leaders spoke hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended a tour of the Middle East aimed at reaching an accord as tensions rise in the region. In a statement on X, Biden said he “made clear that we must bring the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles.” He also updated Netanyahu on “US efforts to support Israel’s defense against threats from Iran and its proxy terrorist groups”, after Tehran threatened revenge for the assassination of a top Hamas leader in Tehran. The White House said separately in a readout of the call that the US president “stressed the urgency” of reaching a deal. Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee to face Republican Donald Trump in November’s US election, also took part in the call, it said.

The Axios news outlet said earlier that Biden was set to push Netanyahu to be more flexible in the talks, which are being brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. It said the US leader would focus on a demand for Israel to maintain control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the border between Gaza and Egypt that Israeli forces seized from Hamas. Israel says Hamas relies on tunnels to bring in weapons. Biden has backed Israel since the October 7 Hamas attacks, supplying the country with huge amounts of military aid for what Netanyahu says is the goal of destroying Hamas. But relations have been tense between the US and Israeli leaders, with Biden calling on Israel to reduce civilian casualties. The October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed 40,223 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most dead are women and children. Palestinian fighters also seized 251 hostages, of whom 105 remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan