US President Joe Biden is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday at the White House, a US official said on Monday night.
In addition, reported Channel 12 News, a meeting is being coordinated between Biden and families of hostages with US citizenship.
Netanyahu, who landed in Washington earlier on Monday ahead of his speech to Congress, was originally scheduled to meet Biden on Tuesday, but the meeting was postponed in the wake of Biden’s COVID-19 diagnosis.
A person familiar with Biden’s schedule said on Sunday that the meeting will take place as planned, despite Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race.
Earlier, an aide to US Vice President Kamala Harris said she would meet Netanyahu this week at the White House, in a meeting separate from Netanyahu’s meeting with Biden.
In her one-on-meeting with Netanyahu, Harris plans to reiterate her commitment to Israel’s security and right to defend itself but will also “convey her view that it is time for the war to end in a way where Israel is secure, all hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can enjoy their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination,” the aide said, as quoted by Politico.
Biden had earlier on Monday phoned in to his campaign headquarters, which has transitioned to supporting Harris after his announcement that he is withdrawing from the presidential race.
In his remarks, Biden vowed to continue working to end the war in Gaza and bring the hostages home during his final months in office.
“I’ll be working very closely with the Israelis and with the Palestinians to try to work out how we can get the Gaza war to end, and Middle East peace, and get all those hostages home. I think we’re on the verge of being able to do that,” Biden said.