When reporters asked the US president whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was cooperating enough to broker a deal to free hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, Joe Biden refrained from answering and simply said, “No.”

He also said that the United States would soon present a final proposal to the negotiators. ceasefire agreement.

Biden spoke to reporters at the White House after Israeli forces over the weekend removed the bodies of six hostages from a Gaza tunnel, including 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whom the Israeli military said were recently killed by Palestinian militants from Hamas.

Asked if he planned to present a final hostage agreement to both sides this week, Biden said: ““We are very close to it.”

“Hope is the last thing you lose,” he added when asked whether the deal would be successful.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also met with the U.S. negotiating team, and the president expressed his “devastation and outrage” at the hostage killingsand discussed next steps to free the remaining captives, the White House said.

Biden’s new criticism of Netanyahu comes as he and Harris, who replaced him on the Democratic ticket in the Nov. 5 election, face growing pressure to take decisive action to end the nearly 11-month war in Gaza.

The row has sowed divisions among Democrats, with many progressives pressuring Biden to limit or at least put conditions on American arms sales to Israel, Washington’s top ally in the Middle East.

Senior Israeli sources said it was “surprising” that Biden was pressuring Netanyahu over the hostage deal rather than Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Biden’s claim that Netanyahu is not doing enough is also dangerous, they say, because it comes just days after Hamas executed six hostages, including an American.

In response to Israel’s comment, a US official said that although Biden has made it clear that Hamas is responsible for the deaths of the hostages. “It also calls on the Israeli government to urgently guarantee the release of the remaining missing hostages.”

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Biden’s criticism was “an American admission that Netanyahu is responsible for undermining efforts to reach an agreement.”

The group would respond positively to a proposal that could guarantee a permanent ceasefire and Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, he added.

Netanyahu, who has accused Hamas of blocking any deal, said over the weekend that ““He who kills hostages does not want an agreement.”

Israeli protesters took to the streets for a second day in a row on Monday, with the country’s largest union launching a general strike to pressure the government to reach a deal that would allow the hostages to be returned.