By Steve Holland and Jasper Ward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Negotiations on a ceasefire-for-hostages deal in the Gaza conflict appear to be in their closing stages and U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss remaining gaps on Thursday, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.
The official, briefing reporters ahead of their 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.
Hamas-led fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct.7, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 captives, according to Israeli tallies, triggering a war in which more than 38,000 people in Gaza have been killed.
Hamas and other militants are still holding 120 hostages; Israel believes around a third of them are dead.
Months of stop-and-start talks have failed to produce a deal to gain release of some of the remaining hostages.
The senior U.S. official said both Israel and Hamas still have some issues to resolve but that a deal is close in which a six-week ceasefire would take place in exchange for the release of women, elderly men and wounded hostages over a 42-day period.
“It’s a very different negotiation now than just a month ago when we had some fundamentally unbridgeable issues,” the official said.
Biden will hold talks with Netanyahu and then later in the day Vice President Kamala Harris will have a separate meeting with the Israeli leader.
Harris has taken over as the presumed Democratic choice for the November presidential election against Republican Donald Trump, after Biden opted not to seek reelection again under pressure from Democrats concerned about his mental acuity.
The senior U.S. official said both Biden and Harris are “completely aligned” on U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza.
“The Israelis will hear full alignment,” the official said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Jasper Ward; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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