Joe Biden ‘hopes’ there’s a ceasefire in Gaza by Ramadan: President admits negotiators are still ‘far apart’ on hostage talks as US military prepares to drop food

President Joe Biden has now said he “hopes” for an agreement for Hamas to release Israeli hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza by the start of Ramadan on March 10.

‘I hope so, we are still working hard on it. We are not there yet,” Biden told reporters as he left the White House on Friday evening en route to Camp David with his granddaughters Naomi and Maisy and Naomi’s husband Peter Neal.

He admitted that negotiators are still “far apart” on reaching a ceasefire to release the hostages, hours after announcing that the US military would begin airborne landings for the Palestinians.

It comes five days after the 81-year-old president said he believed a ceasefire could happen as soon as Monday while eating ice cream with host Seth Meyers in New York.

Biden would not reveal details of the “heist” during the talks and when asked if there was still a chance for a negotiated ceasefire, he said: “I’m still hoping for it.” You know, it’s not over until it’s over.”

Biden has now said he “hopes” for an agreement between Israel and Hamas on the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza by the start of Ramadan on March 10.

His comments and the announcement of airdrops come a day after hundreds of Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in a rush to get food from an aid convoy.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip – a quarter of the population – are one step away from famine.

Biden earlier met in the Oval Office with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and said the food drops would arrive in the coming days.

He noted that he was playing Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind” as the Italian Prime Minister entered the Oval Office.

“We will discuss the Middle East and yesterday’s tragic and alarming event in northern Gaza in an effort to get humanitarian aid there,” he said.

“The loss of life is heartbreaking. People are so desperate that innocent people were caught up in a terrible war and were unable to feed their families. You saw the reaction when they tried to get help.”

Biden admitted negotiators are still ‘far apart’ on reaching a truce to release the hostages, hours after announcing the US military would begin airdrops for Palestinians

Biden, together with his granddaughter Naomi, addresses reporters ahead of a weekend at Camp David

He admitted that negotiators are still “far apart” on reaching a ceasefire to release the hostages, hours after announcing that the US military would begin airborne landings for the Palestinians. Jordanian troops have already started dropping food

“We must do more and the United States will do more.”

Then he started talking about Ukraine: “In the coming days, we will be working with our friends in Jordan and others to provide airdrops of additional food and supplies to Ukraine and to continue to try to open other routes to Ukraine, including the possibility of a marine corridor to deliver large amounts of humanitarian aid.”

Biden then caught himself and said it was aid to Gaza: ‘In addition to expanding land deliveries, as I said, we’re going to push for Israel to facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the aid they need. need. No excuses, because the truth is that the flow of aid into Gaza now is not nearly enough – it is not nearly enough. Innocent lives are at stake, and the lives of children are at stake, too.”

He also said they hope to know “soon” whether a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas can be worked out.

“We are trying to work out a deal between Israel and Hamas – the hostages being returned and the immediate ceasefire in Gaza for at least the next six weeks, and to allow the flow of aid to the entire Gaza Strip, not just to the south. the president said.