Ceasefire talks to resume as Palestinian death toll passes 38,000 in Gaza

The call between the US president and the Israeli prime minister took about 30 minutes and was attended by the national security adviser, secretary of state and vice president.

The purpose of the call, according to the White House, was to work out the final details in terms of trying to get the captives that were taken on October 7 released, as well as to finalise ceasefire negotiations.

The prime minister and president were walking through the draft agreement of the proposal that was put forward by President Biden back in May. The framework deal, according to US officials, is now in place – but there are still some outstanding issues that need to be overcome.

The president and his national security team have been reviewing the response put forward by Hamas in the last day or so. And, so far, the response by the United States has been that what has been put forward by Hamas has been constructive, but there are some issues that still need to be overcome.

What we do know is the president is very much welcoming the decision by the Israeli prime minister to send a delegation to Doha to engage with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

They see this as a significant opening, in fact, to close the deal.