WASHINGTON US President Joe Biden said Thursday that progress is being made in reaching a deal for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. "We're making some real progress," he told reporters at the White House. Biden said he earlier spoke with Lebanon's new president, Joseph Aoun, adding: "He's a first-rate guy...They're also working very hard." "I'm still hopeful that we will be able to have a prisoner exchange. Hamas is the one getting in the way of that exchange right now,