Biden, Netanyahu discuss Gaza truce talks as momentum builds

US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken by phone – Biden’s final week in office – as momentum builds for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-free deal.

Israel and Hamas are understood to be making progress, but uncertainty remains over key aspects of a potential deal.

The White House said Biden discussed the “fundamentally changed regional situation” following Israel’s cease-fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region.

Netanyahu’s office said he had updated Biden on the instructions he had given top negotiators in Doha to “advance the release of the hostages.”

In Sunday’s call, which was the first publicly announced since October, Biden “underscored the immediate need for a cease-fire in Gaza and the return of hostages, with an increase in humanitarian aid made possible by the cessation of hostilities under the agreement.”

It came after Netanyahu sent a top Israeli security delegation, including the directors of the Mossad spy agency and the Shin Bet security service, to indirect negotiations in the Qatari capital, brokered by Qatari, US and Egyptian officials.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu was gathering members of his cabinet against the ceasefire agreement to persuade him not to resign.

And UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy joined his Israeli counterpart in Jerusalem to discuss progress on a deal.

Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy met with Israeli Prime Minister Steve Witkoff on Saturday, amid efforts to try to reach an agreement before the president-elect takes office on January 20.

Trump has previously said that “all hell would break loose” if the hostages were not released before they returned to the White House.

Last Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a deal was “very close” and that he hoped to “break through” before Trump takes office. Any deal would be based on the proposals Biden made in May, he added.

Despite the apparent increase in activity, there is a lack of clarity on several key issues – including whether an initial truce will lead to a permanent ceasefire and whether the Israeli army will agree to a full withdrawal from Gaza.

Anshel Pfeffer, Israel correspondent for The Economist, said he doubted a deal would be reached quickly.

“We’ve been here so many times before,” he told the BBC’s Today Programme.

“There is more room for optimism, but until an official announcement or a truce or cease-fire is made and we start to see the hostages come out, I will remain skeptical.”

But he added that it was in the interest of Israel and Hamas to reach a deal before Trump took office.

“There is a fear (from Hamas) that Trump will somehow allow Israel to unleash a catastrophe in Gaza that has yet to be unleashed.”

“Both sides feel so invested, they’ve suffered a lot.”

The war was triggered by an October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas in southern Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken as hostages to Gaza. Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza to destroy Hamas.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 46,500 people have died in the war.

Israel says 94 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom are believed to be dead, as well as four other Israelis kidnapped before the war, two of whom are dead.