STORY: U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday (September 2) that he was close to presenting a final proposal for a deal to release hostages held by Hamas in Gaza but said he did not think Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu was doing enough to secure such an agreement.
Biden was speaking to reporters at the White House after Israeli forces over the weekend recovered the bodies of six hostages, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old American-Israeli, from a tunnel in Gaza where it said Palestinian Hamas militants recently killed them.
That has sparked criticism of the Biden administration’s Gaza ceasefire strategy and ratcheted up pressure on Netanyahu from Israelis to bring the remaining hostages home.
Asked whether he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal, Biden said “No.” He did not elaborate.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were due on Monday to meet with the U.S. hostage deal negotiating team to discuss efforts toward an agreement for the release of the remaining captives.
