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Most important points
- US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have met to discuss a ceasefire in Gaza.
- More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza, after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis.
- The White House says progress has been made toward a ceasefire, but compromises from both sides are necessary.
US President Joe Biden urged a ceasefire in the nine-month war in Gaza during talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Vice President Kamala Harris is also scheduled to meet the Israeli leader.
It was the first face-to-face talks between the two men since Biden traveled to Israel days after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, hugged Netanyahu and pledged American support.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said there was still a rift between Israel and the Hamas militants who control the Palestinian enclave in their pursuit of a ceasefire, but that “we are closer now than ever before.”
“Both sides have to compromise,” Kirby said.
State Department spokesman Matt Miller said: “I think the message from the American side at that meeting will be that we need to get this deal done.”
The visit coincides with a shift in American politics. On Sunday, Biden, 81, dropped out of the U.S. presidential race under pressure from fellow Democrats and endorsed Harris for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
“We have a lot to talk about,” Biden said as he welcomed Netanyahu to the Oval Office.
“I want to thank you for 50 years of community service and 50 years of support for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu told Biden.
Relations between the two leaders have been tense for months over the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 39,000 people, according to Gaza health officials.
The US is a major arms supplier to Israel and has shielded the country from crucial United Nations votes.
In the late afternoon, Harris meets the Israeli leader in her ceremonial office at the White House.
The meeting will be closely watched to see how Harris, the first senior US official to call for a ceasefire, might change US policy toward Israel if she becomes president.
Netanyahu’s visit comes as prosecutors at the International Criminal Court seek to issue arrest warrants for him and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Al-Masri and Ismail Haniyeh, on alleged war crimes charges.
Both Israel and Hamas strongly deny these allegations.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, when Hamas militants from Gaza attacked southern Israel, killing 1,139 people and taking about 250 hostages.
