BUELLTON, California — US President Joe Biden, in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (Aug 21), stressed the urgent need to conclude a Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal and pointed to upcoming Cairo talks as crucial, the White House said.

Their call followed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's whirlwind trip to the Middle East that ended on Tuesday without an agreement between Israel and Hamas militants on a truce in the Palestinian enclave.

Negotiators who have struggled for months to conclude a ceasefire deal plan to meet in the coming days in Cairo.

"The president stressed the urgency of bringing the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles," a White House statement about the call said.

The statement said Biden and Netanyahu also discussed US efforts to support Israel "against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, to include ongoing defencive US military deployments."

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