Yesterday evening, Thursday evening, US President Joe Biden defended the way he handled the war on Gaza and praised the progress made in the ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hamas in a press conference on Thursday that was dominated by questions about his age and suitability for the position.

Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the three-day NATO summit in Washington, Biden acknowledged that Israel had been “less cooperative” with the United States on aid reaching the Gaza Strip.

“I support Israel, but this war government is one of the most conservative (right-wing) war governments in Israel’s history,” he said in response to a journalist’s question about whether there was anything Biden wished he had done differently over the course of the war.

The Biden administration has repeatedly said that Israel must do more to reduce civilian harm and expand humanitarian access to the Palestinian enclave. But Biden is facing pressure from some Democrats who say the United States should make greater use of Israeli military aid to stop the bloodshed in Gaza, where the Gaza Health Ministry says more than 38,200 people, most of them women and children, have been killed in the more-than-continuous Israeli war. For nine months, the Gaza Strip has been besieged.

Biden added: “There are many things in the past that I wish I had been able to convince the Israelis to do, but the bottom line is that we have a chance now.”

He told reporters that "there are still gaps that must be filled" regarding the three-stage ceasefire and hostage release plan that (the president) unveiled on May 31, and which the United Nations Security Council adopted on June 10.

Biden said: “We are making progress and moving in a positive direction.” He added, "Now, I am determined to complete this agreement and put an end to this war, which must end now."

The ceasefire talks gained momentum last week when Hamas presented its response to the US-backed agreement. Then the main US negotiators - CIA Director William Burns and Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East - traveled to the region this week to fill the remaining gaps.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after his meeting with McGurk in Israel on Wednesday, said in a statement that he is committed to negotiations "as long as Israel's red lines are maintained." Netanyahu is facing pressure from his right-wing ministers not to accept a truce agreement that fails to guarantee the complete defeat of Hamas.

An Israeli negotiating team is scheduled to head to Cairo on Thursday evening to continue ceasefire talks with Qatari, Egyptian and American officials.

The US-backed agreement will begin with a six-week cessation of fighting, during which the elderly, the wounded, and hostages will be released in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and increased humanitarian aid.

The second and third phases of the deal are seen as the most difficult to implement, as they call on Hamas to release its remaining hostages, and Israel to completely withdraw its forces before achieving its war goals of defeating Hamas, something that all experts acknowledge is impossible.

Biden spoke on Thursday as the Israeli occupation army moved into Gaza City, an area it claimed to have cleared of Hamas fighters early in the war. The movement warned that renewed Israeli raids and evacuation orders for tens of thousands of Palestinians living in the largest city in Gaza could return negotiations "to square one."

Israel launched its devastating war on the Gaza Strip after an attack by Hamas fighters on the Gaza envelope area on October 7, 2023, which Israel says killed about 1,200 people, including 311 soldiers, and took 250 others hostage. Israeli authorities said that about 120 detainees remain in Gaza, and about a third of them are believed to have died.

Biden took questions from reporters on Thursday exactly two weeks after his disastrous performance in a debate with former President Donald Trump, during which the 81-year-old failed to complete his thoughts.

During the debate, Trump referred to Biden as a "bad Palestinian" and claimed that the October 7 Hamas attack would not have happened on his watch.

In his conference, which he organized to respond to Democrats' skepticism about his ability to lead in the next four years, President Biden provided a series of sometimes shaky answers to reporters' questions during a nearly hour-long news conference on Thursday, but he also demonstrated his control over foreign policy issues and avoided repeating the worst moments. The presidential debate two weeks ago sparked unrest within his party.