Israel and Hamas deal 'closer than ever' - US

White House officials said Israel and Hamas were "closer now than we've been before" to reaching a ceasefire deal as Benjamin Netanyahu met Joe Biden last night to discuss an end to the nine-month conflict in Gaza.

- Andrew Roth

The talks at the White House came amid unprecedented political turmoil in the US and domestic pressure on the Israeli prime minster to rescue the dozens of hostages still being held captive after Hamas's attacks of 7 October.

The Israeli prime minister was also due to meet the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, who is likely to replace Biden as the Democratic candidate for November's election.

"We've got a lot to talk about," Biden said when he welcomed Netanyahu to the Oval Office.

Netanyahu told Biden at the start of their meeting: "From a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish-American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel."

The president thanked Netanyahu and noted that his first meeting with an Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, was in 1973, soon after he was elected to the Senate. Biden joked that he was only 12 years old at the time.

The president was expected to put pressure on Netanyahu to commit at least to the first stage of a three-part deal in which at least some of the hostages would be released in exchange for a temporary ceasefire.

A senior administration official said a "framework" to the deal had been agreed but that "serious implementation issues ... still had to be resolved". The official added: "I don't expect the meeting to be a yes or no. It's a kind of like, how do we close these final gaps?"

At a press conference while the two leaders were meeting, the White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said gaps in the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas militants could be overcome.