WASHINGTON, US
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the White House for separate meetings Thursday with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on a Gaza ceasefire deal, reflecting the upended political situation in Washington.
The meetings come after Netanyahu vowed "total victory" against Hamas in a fiery speech Wednesday to the US Congress, and just days after Biden announced his shock exit from the 2024 White House race.
Relations between Biden and Netanyahu are tense over Israel's conduct in the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attacks, despite the US president's continued military and political support.
While Biden says he wants to secure a truce and hostage release deal in his last six months in office, Netanyahu may be tempted to wait until after his lame-duck presidency and to negotiate with his successor instead.
As part of his first White House visit during Biden's presidency, Netanyahu will hold talks with the US leader in the Oval Office at 1:00 pm local time (1700 GMT), and both will later meet the families of US hostages held in Gaza.
In a primetime speech explaining his decision on Sunday to bow out of the US presidential election, Biden made clear that the conflict would remain a top priority.
"I'm going to keep working to end the war on Gaza, bring home all the hostages to bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war," the US president said.
A senior US administration official said Wednesday that negotiations on a Gaza deal were in the "closing stages" and that Biden would try to close some "final gaps" with Netanyahu.
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