President Joe Biden expressed hope that negotiators would secure a temporary pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He referred to the talks as “close” and added that a ceasefire could begin as early as next Monday, according to Bloomberg. “My national security adviser tells me that we’re close, we’re close, we’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a cease-fire,” Biden said on Monday in New York. The White House statement came a day before the Democratic primaries in Michigan, a key state where he hopes to be re-elected for a second term in the Novembe…