After taking two weeks out of the public eye, vacationing in his home state of Delaware, President Joe Biden finally returned to the White House today.
He and Vice President Kamala Harris met in the situation room with the US hostage negotiation team, after six Hamas hostages were found killed in Gaza this weekend.
The meeting at the White House lasted a couple hours, with Biden afterward saying he 'hopes they are close' to a deal. Biden was also asked if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing enough to get a deal done, to which he replied 'no.' No major details emerged from the meeting, other than they hope to get a deal done as soon as possible. US officials, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and CIA Director Bill Burns, were in attendance.
The administration is facing criticism over their refusal to allow Israel into Rafah for military operations, which is where the dead hostages were found. Biden said in a statement this weekend he is 'outraged' by the murders. Netanyahu has vowed to strike back with force and has not commented on agreeing to a hostage deal or ceasefire.
Photo: AFP