President Biden Values Israeli PM Doesn't Do Enough To Reach Hostage Release Agreement

JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden said on Monday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not done enough to secure the deal for the release of hostages in Gaza by Hamas, while the US was close to submitting a final proposal to negotiators working on hostage-taking and ceasefire agreements.

President Biden spoke to reporters at the White House after Israeli forces over the weekend found the bodies of six hostages, including 23-year-old American-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, from a tunnel in Gaza. The Israeli military said they had just been killed by Palestinian Hamas militants.

It has sparked criticism of the Gaza ceasefire strategy of President Biden's Administration and stepped up pressure on Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu to take home the remaining hostages.

When asked if PM Netanyahu did enough to reach a hostage-taking deal, President Biden said "no," without further outlining his statement.

PM Netanyahu seemed reluctant when asked about President Biden's comments, saying pressure should be put on Hamas, not Israel, especially after the deaths of the hostages.

"And now after this we are asked to show seriousness? We are asked to make concessions? What message was conveyed to Hamas? It is said, kill more hostages," he said at a press conference in Jerusalem.

PM Netanyahu said he did not believe President Biden or anyone serious about wanting to achieve peace would ask Israel to make more concessions. Instead, it was Hamas who needed to do it.

When asked if he planned to deliver the final hostage-taking deal to both sides this week, Biden told reporters: "We are very close to it."

"Hope is always there," he added when asked if the deal would work.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also met with a US hostage-taking negotiating team, in which the president declared a "destroy and outrage" over the killings of the hostages, and they discussed further steps in efforts to free the remaining prisoners, the White House said.

President Biden's new criticism of PM Netanyahu comes as he and Vice President Harris face growing calls for decisive action to end the war that has lasted nearly 11 months in Gaza.

The conflict has led to divisions among Democrats, with many progressives urging President Biden to limit or at least grant US arms supply to Israel, Washington's main ally in the Middle East.