After arriving in Berlin for previously scheduled meetings, the president said he was sending the secretary of state to Israel in the coming days.
President Biden said on Thursday that the death of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was killed by the Israeli military on Wednesday, could create the opportunity to “move on” to a cease-fire in Gaza, adding that he had spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to congratulate him on Mr. Sinwar’s death.
“It’s time for this war to end and bring these hostages home. So that’s what we’re ready to do,” Mr. Biden told reporters upon his arrival in Berlin on Thursday evening. He added that he was “hopeful” about the prospects of a cease-fire and would be sending Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to Israel in the coming four to five days to discuss securing Gaza and what the “day after” the war will look like.
“Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals,” Mr. Biden said in a statement earlier on Thursday. “That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us.”
The death of Mr. Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was the architect of the Oct. 7 attacks, comes as the relationship between Mr. Netanyahu and the U.S. president has frayed. The two leaders had spoken last week for the first time in two months to discuss Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack earlier in October. Looming over that discussion was the burden of their worsening ties.
President Biden has on occasion privately expressed his frustrations with Mr. Netanyahu and his conduct of the war in Gaza, sometimes in salty terms, as documented in a new book by the investigative reporter Bob Woodward. Mr. Biden has also lamented to Mr. Netanyahu directly that he lacks a strategy for the war, according to the book.
But Mr. Sinwar’s death seems to present an opportunity for both men to claim a victory and perhaps get on the same page again. According to Mr. Netanyahu’s office, President Biden called him on Thursday evening and both leaders “agreed that there is an opportunity to advance a deal to free the hostages and they will work together to achieve that goal,” according to the Israeli statement.
Negotiations on a cease-fire deal that would see the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza have been deadlocked for months, with both Israel and Hamas blaming each other.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs is a White House correspondent, covering President Biden and his administration. More about Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Ephrat Livni is a reporter for The Times’s DealBook newsletter, based in Washington. More about Ephrat Livni
See more on: Israel-Hamas War News, Yehya Sinwar, President Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas
