US President Joe Biden said Israel and Hamas were “very close” to an agreement. Speaking at the White House on Tuesday morning, he said Washington had been “working on this intensively for weeks” and “we’re now very close, very close”.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday forcefully denounced the reported rape and sexual violence against Israeli girls and women by Hamas militants following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, calling on the world to condemn such conduct “without equivocation” and “without exception.

US President Joe Biden called on Tuesday for global condemnation of what he said was "horrific" sexual violence by Hamas during the October 7 attacks on Israel.Israeli women and legal activists have accused international rights groups of maintaining a conspiracy of silence over alleged rapes and other sexual crimes during the October 7 attacks.

The president during a trip to Boston referenced a series of media reports about horrific accounts of rape during the attack by Hamas fighters Oct. 7 in Israel.