President Joe Biden met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Monday as the administration continues talks. a possible agreement on the release of hostages In the Israel-Hamas war and there is criticized Israel’s ground attack on Gaza’s Rafah city is planned.
The two leaders held a discussion attended by high-level foreign policy officials The situation in Gaza continues and efforts to release the hostages, which Biden said he had discussed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar “to move this forward.” He said the effort would include a six-week pause in combat.
“We don’t know how many people are still alive. The suffering their families endure week after week, month after month is unimaginable. And bringing them home is a top priority for the United States,” Biden said.
Biden said the two leaders also discussed increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza and efforts to bring “lasting peace” based on a two-state solution.
“I have made it clear that the United States shares the goal of seeing Hamas defeated and providing long-term security for Israel and its people,” he added.
Speaking after Biden, Abdullah warned against the relocation of Palestinians beyond the borders of Gaza and the West Bank and called for a two-state solution.
“We, together with our Arab partners and the international community, must intensify efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza and begin work immediately to create a political horizon leading to a just and comprehensive peace based on a two-state solution.” Abdullah said.
It was the first meeting between Biden and Abdullah three American soldiers were killed drone attack on a base in northeastern Jordan last month. The United States linked the attack to Iran and armed groups supported by the president and first lady Jill Biden. participated in the transfer Soldiers killed at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware this month.
The administration has been negotiating possible hostage releases, including Biden’s possible release of CIA Director William Burns to Egypt on Tuesday. The intelligence chiefs of the United States, Israel and Egypt and Qatar’s prime minister discussed a possible framework that would include a six-week ceasefire in fighting, an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and a plan to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
US officials, after Biden spoke with Netanyahu, said a senior administration official told reporters on Sunday that they believed a deal could be reached this week on the release of the hostages.
“It’s almost there,” the official told reporters in a call, stressing there were still “some important issues to close.”
Biden and Netanyahu spent two-thirds of Sunday’s meeting discussing the bailout, the official said. Biden has expressed concern about Israel’s military operation in Rafah because so many civilians were sent there early in the war, the official said. “There was a pretty detailed back and forth about this,” the official said, between Biden and Netanyahu.
While private expresses his disappointment NBC News reports that with Netanyahu’s military approach, Biden continued to show unequivocal support for Israel.
Monica Alba and Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner contributed.