Biden says 'on the brink' of reaching Gaza truce, prisoner swap deal

A ceasefire and prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel is "on the brink" of being finalised, US President Joe Biden has said, as negotiations in the Middle East continue.

"In the war between Israel and Hamas, we're on the brink of a proposal that I laid out in detail months ago finally coming to fruition," Biden said in a farewell speech at the State Department on Monday, after months of failure to convince US ally Israel to agree to the deal.

Israel currently holds more than 10,300 Palestinian prisoners, while it is estimated that 99 Israelis are detained in Gaza. Hamas says many Israeli captives have been killed in indiscriminate Israeli air strikes.

Biden told American diplomats in his final foreign policy speech that the United States is "winning the worldwide competition" in a new era of global economics and technology.

"The United States is winning the worldwide competition compared to four years ago," he said, adding, "America is stronger. Our alliances are stronger. Our adversaries and competitors are weaker, (and) we have not gone to war to make these things happen."

While wars continue to rage in Ukraine and the Middle East, officials hope a deal between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas — torpedoed several times by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies — can be reached before Biden departs the White House on January 20.

"So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace," he said.

US weapons for genocide

Biden has faced severe criticism for providing Israel with weapons and diplomatic support during its genocide in Gaza since October 2023.

Since then, Israel has killed more than 46,000 people in Gaza and wounded over 110,000 according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and most of its population displaced.

Analysts, however, say the reported death toll is a conservative estimate and the actual death toll could be beyond or around 200,000.

Protesters shouting "war criminal" greeted Biden outside the State Department on Monday, some with signs and some throwing red liquid intended to look like blood.

Biden said he had helped Israel defeat Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He also hailed Washington's support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.

"All told, Iran is weaker than it's been in decades," he added, noting the collapse of the Syrian Assad regime.