The White House has said that Biden’s main advisor on the Middle East, Brett McGurk, would head to the region, notably to Qatar, where Hamas has its political office, to discuss the hostages issue, AFP reports.s

Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, and the White House said the two “discussed at length ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, including many children and a number of Americans”.

“I cannot look you in the eye and tell you how many of those hostages are still alive,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told a news conference on Monday.

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