President Joe Biden says that he hopes to have a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza by the start of next week, saying his national security adviser has told him that ‘we’re close’ to a deal. The US president offered the update spontaneously during a visit to New York on Monday, in response to reporters’ inquiries. Over the weekend, Israel’s war cabinet approved the broad terms of a deal to pause fighting for several weeks in exchange for hostage releases. However, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has vowed to continue Israel’s bombardment after the pause.
