Families' hopes rise for Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal after Biden, Netanyahu meet

• Biden's foreign policy strategy and legacy is also centered around Israel and Hamas reaching an agreement to return the hostages being held in Gaza and end the war.
• The meeting was the first time Netanyahu met the families of U.S. hostages as a group. U.S. officials said it took place as part of Biden's effort to put pressure on Netanyahu to close the deal.

Driving the news: Netanyahu arrived at the White House on Thursday for the first time in almost four years.

• He met Biden at the Oval Office for an hour and a half and then the two leaders met for another hour with the families of the hostages.

Behind the scenes: Three sources who attended the meeting told Axios the families asked Netanyahu in front of Biden why the prime minister was slow-walking the negotiations on the deal.

• Netanyahu replied that he was not slow-walking anything and committed that Israel will send an updated proposal for Hamas within days, the three sources said.
• When the meeting ended, Biden spoke to several members of the families separately before leaving the room and said he is going to continue pushing for a deal, according to the three sources.
• "I am telling you as a Biden that I am all in and I am going to do all within my power to make it happen," Biden told the families according to the sources.

What they're saying: Ruby and Hagit Chen, the parents of U.S. hostage Itay Chen, told Axios after the meeting that they have hope "something will happen in the coming days" around the hostage deal.

• Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of Sagy Chen, read a statement by the families outside of the Oval office and said they arrived at the meeting with a sense of urgency.

• "With each passing day bringing our loved ones back alive becomes less likely," he said.

Dekel-Chen stressed the families told Biden and Netanyahu that a deal must be concluded to return all the hostages and end the suffering in Gaza.

• "After the meeting we feel more optimistic than we have at any point since the previous hostage deal last November," he said.
• "Biden and Netanyahu pledged that they understand that time should not be wasted and that the current deal on the table should be completed with as few changes as possible," he added.

Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, said that after announcing he is not running for re-election she thinks Biden will be able to be "laser focused" on getting a deal.

• The White House and the Prime Minister's Office didn't respond to a request for comment.

What's next: U.S. officials said CIA director Bill Burns and Biden's top Middle East adviser Brett McGurk will likely travel next week to hold meetings with the Egyptian and Qatari mediators and with the Israeli negotiations team to push forward the deal.