Biden says he believes hostage deal is near
President Joe Biden said Monday he thinks negotiators are close to reaching a deal to release hostages from Gaza.
When asked at the White House turkey pardon if a deal is near, Biden responded, "I believe so, but I’m not prepared to talk to …"
"You believe so?" reporters followed up, cutting off Biden's initial comment. Biden replied, "Yes," before holding up crossed fingers.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday, "We believe we’re closer than we’ve ever been, so we’re hopeful. But there’s still work to be done, and nothing is done until it's all done, so we’re gonna keep working on this."
Kirby wouldn't say if the deal was focused on securing the release of women and children and wouldn't discuss a potential timeframe the administration was looking at for a deal to be announced.
"I think the less said the better as we get into ... what we hope is the end game here on negotiations. It's probably safer if I don’t go into much speculating," Kirby said.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
