Biden and Netanyahu make 'significant progress' in hostage deal talks

Feb. 11 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made "significant progress" in talks to reach potential hostage deal, a senior Biden administration official told reporters late Sunday.

The official described the exchange as a "pretty detailed back-and-forth" conversation about a deal amid increasing military activity in the Gazan city of Rafah.

The official said Israel has a "clear precondition" for any military operations that "the population would have to move, would have to be moved safely and everything else." The administration official said how that can be accomplished remains "a huge question."

Rafah is thought to be sheltering roughly 1.4 million Palestinians, officials have said.

In an interview on ABC's This Week, Netanyahu said that while Israeli forces fight with Hamas in Rafah, civilians would be able to flee back to the north, where much of the infrastructure has already been destroyed in the war, which started with Hamas' surprise terror attack on Israel Oct. 7.

Biden has repeatedly said that while he wants to see Hamas defeated it "must be done while ensuring that operations are targeted, conducted in a way that ensures innocents are protected to the extent possible."

Prompted by a death toll of 28,000 and attacks that have leveled hospitals and other essential services, Biden and U.S. allies have faced mounting international criticism since the war began in October.