Biden says ‘real progress’ being made on Gaza deal

WASHINGTON

US President Joe Biden said Thursday that progress is being made in reaching a deal for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas.

"We're making some real progress," he told reporters at the White House.

Biden said he earlier spoke with Lebanon's new president, Joseph Aoun, adding: "He's a first-rate guy...They're also working very hard."

"I'm still hopeful that we will be able to have a prisoner exchange. Hamas is the one getting in the way of that exchange right now, but I think we may be able to get that done, we need to get it done," he said.

Israel is holding over 10,300 Palestinian prisoners, while Hamas is said to be holding around 100 Israeli captives in Gaza. The Palestinian group also said that dozens of captives had died in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes.

The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed almost 46,000 people, most of them women and children, since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

In November last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.