WASHINGTON, Aug 22, 2024 BSS/AFP) - President Joe Biden on Wednesday pushed
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal with
Hamas as talks on a truce faltered.

The US and Israeli leaders spoke hours after US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken ended a tour of the Middle East aimed at reaching an accord as
tensions rise in the region.

In a statement on X, Biden said he "made clear that we must bring the
ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in
Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles."

He also updated Netanyahu on "US efforts to support Israel's defense against
threats from Iran and its proxy terrorist groups", after Tehran threatened
revenge for the assassination of a top Hamas leader in Tehran.

The White House said separately in a readout of the call that the US
president "stressed the urgency" of reaching a deal.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic
presidential nominee to face Republican Donald Trump in November's US
election, also took part in the call, it said.

The Axios news outlet said earlier that Biden was set to push Netanyahu to be
more flexible in the talks, which are being brokered by the United States,
Egypt and Qatar.

It said the US leader would focus on a demand for Israel to maintain control
of the Philadelphi Corridor, the border between Gaza and Egypt that Israeli
forces seized from Hamas.

Israel says Hamas relies on tunnels to bring in weapons.

Biden has backed Israel since the October 7 Hamas attacks, supplying the
country with huge amounts of military aid for what Netanyahu says is the goal
of destroying the Palestinian militant group.

But relations have been tense between the US and Israeli leaders, with Biden
calling on Israel to reduce civilian casualties.

The October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,199
people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli
official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed 40,223 Palestinians in
Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not
give details of civilian and militant deaths. The UN rights office says most
dead are women and children.

Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages, of whom 105 remain in Gaza
including 34 the military says are dead.