Joe Biden has said he hopes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas can be secured by the end of the weekend.
The US president made the remarks during an unannounced visit to the Van Leeuwen ice cream parlour, next door to 30 Rock in New York, on Monday.
Flanked by late night TV show host Seth Meyers, Mr Biden was asked by reporters when he thought a ceasefire in Gaza could start.
In a surprise turn, he said that he hopes it will take place “by the end of the weekend”.
“My national security adviser (Jake Sullivan) tells me that we’re close, we’re close, we’re not done yet,” he said. “My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”
Image: The US president made the remarks during an unannounced visit to the Van Leeuwen ice cream parlour, New York. Pic: AP
Negotiations are underway for a weeks-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to allow for the release of hostages being held in Gaza by the militant group in return for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The proposed six-week pause in fighting would also include allowing hundreds of trucks to deliver desperately needed aid into Gaza every day.
The ‘proximity talks’ are being hosted by Qatar, with mediators meeting delegations from both sides separately.
However the presence of both Israeli and Hamas representatives suggested negotiations were further along than at any time since the start of February, when Israel rejected a Hamas counter-offer for a four-and-a-half-month truce.
In public, both sides continued to take positions far apart on the ultimate aims of a truce, while blaming each other for holding up the talks.
Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause in fighting to secure the release of hostages. Hamas says it will not free them without an agreement that leads to a permanent end to the war.
After meeting Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the reclusive head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, said his group had embraced mediators’ efforts to find an end to the war, and accused Israel of stalling while Gazans die under siege.
“We will not allow the enemy to use negotiations as a cover for this crime,” he said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was ready for a deal, and it was now up to Hamas to drop demands he described as “outlandish” and “from another planet”.
Meanwhile Israel is pressing ahead with plans for a military operation in Rafah – an operation it says will go ahead if hostages are not returned by 10 March, which is when Ramadan starts.
Mr Netanyahu said earlier on Monday that the Israeli Defence Forces had proposed a strategy for the evacuation of civilians from “fighting areas” to the country’s war cabinet.
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