Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal ‘out of reach in Biden’s remaining term’

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is unlikely to be reached before Joe Biden leaves office in January, U.S. officials believe as tensions in the Middle East ratchet up over Lebanon. The Wall Street Journal cited top-level, but unnamed, officials in the White House, State Department and Pentagon. One assessed: ‘No deal is imminent. I’m not sure it ever gets done.’

Antony Blinken has said Israel and Hamas representatives had already agreed to ’90 per cent’ of a proposed deal, and the Pentagon assured on Thursday: ‘I can tell you that we do not believe that deal is falling apart.’ has said Israel and Hamas representatives had already agreed to ’90 per cent’ of a proposed deal, and the Pentagon assured on Thursday: ‘I can tell you that we do not believe that deal is falling apart.’ With the election looming in November, the ongoing war in the southern Levant has proven a divisive issue and put strain on the incumbent Biden administration.

The United States and mediators Qatar and Egypt have for months attempted to secure a ceasefire but have failed to bring Israel and Hamas to a final agreement. Two obstacles have been especially difficult: Israel’s demand to keep forces in the Philadelphi corridor between Gaza and Egypt and the specifics of an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The United States has said a Gaza ceasefire deal could lower tensions across the Middle East amid fears the conflict could widen. Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal on May 31 that he said at the time Israel agreed to. As the talks hit obstacles, officials have for weeks said a new proposal would soon be presented.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7 last year when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry.

Nearly the entire population of 2.3 million has been displaced by the conflict, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies. Israel announced in June it would allow daily pauses in its bombardment of Gaza to allow vital aid to reach the people of Gaza – a month after announcing its ‘high intensity’ phase of operations was coming to an end. Immense pressure from Israel’s allies and adversaries, humanitarian groups and the families and supporters of hostages has manifested in global calls for an end to the hostilities.

But this week, Israel announced a new phase of the war was beginning after explosions rippled through Lebanon, killing and injuring scores of people affiliated with Iranian-proxy group Hezbollah. Hezbollah, based mostly out of southern Lebanon to Israel’s north, has fired rockets in Israel for months. Both Hamas and Hezbollah receive support from Iran, but have significant differences in ideology and priorities. On Tuesday, thousands of paging devices used by Hezbollah as a safer alternative to mobile phones exploded, causing some 2,800 injuries and killing 12.

Two children were among those killed in the blasts. Israel did not take responsibility. Hezbollah subsequently responded with a salvo of rockets – but was rocked again when walkie-talkies exploded on Wednesday, killing at least three and injuring more than 100. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib warned the ‘blatant assault on Lebanon’s sovereignty and security’ was a dangerous development that could ‘signal a wider war’.

The influx of so many casualties all at once overwhelmed hospitals in Hezbollah strongholds. At a Beirut hospital, doctor Joelle Khadra said ‘the injuries were mainly to the eyes and hands, with finger amputations, shrapnel in the eyes – some people lost their sight.’ A doctor at another Beirut hospital, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said he had worked through the night and that the injuries were ‘out of this world – never seen anything like it’.

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