Biden says Israel and Hamas ARE close to a deal to pause fighting to release hostages captured during the October 7 terrorist attack

President Joe on Monday said he believes a deal to secure the release of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza is near.

After holding a ceremony to pardon two Thanksgiving turkeys, he was asked whether Israel and Hamas were close to a deal.

'I believe, so,' he said.

Hamas captured more than 200 hostages in its devastating Oct. 7 attack on Israel. 

On Sunday Michael Herzog, the country's ambassador to Washington, said that he was 'hopeful' a deal would be reached within days.

'We're talking about a pause in the fighting for a few days,' he told ABC's 'This Week.'

U.S. and Qatari officials are pushing for a five-day pause in fighting to allow at least 50 women and children to be released. More releases would then follow. 

Hamas terrorists killed at least 1,200 during their attack, the bloodiest day in Israel's 75-year history.

Since then Israel has kept up an intense bombardment of Gaza. The Hamas-controlled health ministry says at least 13,000 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 5,500 children. 

America's oldest president offered the update after a South Lawn event that marks the unofficial start of the holiday season and as he turned 81.

The commander-in-chief did a running step on the way to the podium and joked about the milestone by saying: 'It's tough to turn 60'. 

'It's the 76th anniversary of this event. I want you to know I wasn't there,' he added.

After the ceremony, the two birds will go back to their home state where they will live out their days at the University of Minnesota's College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences. 

The tradition goes back to 1947 when the National Turkey Federation first presented a national Thanksgiving turkey to President Harry Truman. 

In the afternoon, first lady Jill Biden is due to take delivery of the White House Christmas tree, an 18-and-a-half foot Fraser fir from Fleetwood, North Carolina.

The Bidens are due to mark Thanksgiving with family on Nantucket, the Massachusetts island where they spend a vacation every November.

On Sunday they served up turkey to the crew of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia. 

The two lucky avian survivors were preparing for their big moment at the Willard hotel in Washington D.C. before the White House ceremony.

'Markus Platzer, the hotel's general manager,  told the Associated Press: 'There are so many bad things going on globally that this is something where everybody, you know, brings a smile into the face of the people, at least for a few minutes.'

Biden knows what he means. He is heading into a 2024 election trailing likely Republican nominee Donald Trump in the polls.

DailyMail.com found out of 1,000 voters in a hypothetical 2024 head-to-head poll Trump takes a one-point lead over Biden.

One year out from election day on November 5, 2024, Biden's Gallup approval rating stood at 37 percent. 

That is lower at the same stage than his six immediate predecessors - Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

Only Jimmy Carter, who was on 32 percent, was more unpopular than Biden with a year to go, and Carter went on to lose in a landslide. 

Biden has raised concerns over his age with recent gaffes from looking confused how to exit a stage at events and slipping up on telling stories.