President Joe Biden said Thursday that US mediators were making progress in reaching a Gaza ceasefire deal as he called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war. Biden, in a high-stakes, nearly hour-long news conference aimed at repudiating doubters of his reelection bid, acknowledged concerns about Israeli actions despite his overall support for the US ally. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things in retrospect I wish I had been able to convince the Israelis to do, but the bottom line is we have a chance now. It\u2019s time to end this war,\u201d he said after a NATO summit in Washington. Biden acknowledged there remained \u201cdifficult, complex issues\u201d between Israel and Hamas. \u201cThere are still gaps to close. We\u2019re making progress,\u201d Biden said. \u201cThe trend is positive, and I\u2019m determined to get this deal done and bring an end to this war, which should end now,\u201d he said. Biden more than a month ago laid out a plan in which Israel would temporarily halt its offensive in Gaza and Hamas would release hostages, setting the stage for talks for a permanent end to the devastating nine-month war. Hamas came back with counterproposals and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pushback from some of his hard-right government allies. But diplomats have spoken of progress in the latest round of talks that closed Thursday in Qatar, the key mediator. Pushing Israel \u2018really hard\u2019 Biden threw his support behind Israel after the October 7 attack by Hamas which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed at least 38,345 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures from Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. Biden, 81, recalled his meeting a half-century ago as a young senator with Israeli prime minister Golda Meir \u2014 and acknowledged that times have changed. \u201cWe pushed it really hard, and Israel occasionally was less than cooperative,\u201d Biden said of Netanyahu\u2019s government. \u201cThis war cabinet is one of the most conservative war cabinets in the history of Israel, and there\u2019s no ultimate answer other than a two-state solution here,\u201d he said. Biden also stood firm on his decision to hold up delivery of massive 2,000-pound bombs, even as his administration moves forward on other munitions. \u201cI\u2019m not providing the 2,000-pound bombs. They cannot be used in Gaza or any populated area without causing great human tragedy and damage,\u201d Biden said. He again pressed Israel for a \u201cday-after\u201d plan for the war\u2019s end and spoke of his diplomacy to persuade Arab states to help with security. \u201cAt the end of the day, there has to be no occupation by Israel in the Gaza Strip,\u201d Biden said. He also acknowledged he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d by a pier to deliver aid into Gaza, which Biden announced in March and the US military built at a cost of $230 million as Israel impeded land routes for aid trucks. The United States plans soon to end the use of the pier permanently after it was plagued by problems, including the weather. \u201cI was hopeful that would be more successful,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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