U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet, separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, for talks on solutions to end the Gaza conflict.
Biden, who stepped aside from the U.S. presidential race under pressure from his fellow Democrats, will meet Netanyahu at the White House. It will be their first face-to-face talks since Biden traveled to Israel days after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and pledged American support.
Then, Kamala Harris, who is poised to become the Democratic nominee for President, will meet the Israeli leader in her ceremonial office at the White House. Harris was the first top U.S. official to call for a ceasefire.
Biden and Netanyahu also will meet together with the families of American hostages held by Hamas.
The two leaders have had strained relations for months over Israel’s attacks on Gaza, which have killed more than 39,000 people and sparked a humanitarian crisis.
The U.S. is a major arms supplier to Israel and has protected the country from critical United Nations votes.
Netanyahu’s visit, his first since he started his sixth term as prime minister at the end of 2022, comes shortly after Biden’s decision not to seek reelection.
Both Biden and Harris are eager for a ceasefire. Harris has been aligned with Biden on Israel but commentators noticed she had a tougher tone.
The conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing 1,200 people. Israel launched a retaliatory assault.
Hamas-led fighters took 250 captives on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies. Some 120 hostages are still being held though Israel believes one in three are dead.
Negotiations on a ceasefire-for-hostages deal in the Gaza conflict appear to be in their closing stages, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, according to press agencies.
The official, briefing reporters ahead of the talks, said the remaining obstacles are bridgeable and there will be more meetings aimed at reaching a deal between Israel and Hamas over the next week.
On Friday, Netanyahu travels to Florida to meet Trump.
