Senior U.S. officials are now acknowledging that they do not expect Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire agreement before President Joe Biden’s term ends, according to a Thursday report.
The Wall Street Journal revealed that the Biden administration will persist in its efforts to broker a deal, viewing it as the only viable solution to end the war in Gaza and curb the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“No deal is imminent. I’m not sure it ever gets done,” one U.S. official told the Journal.
According to the report, the officials pointed to two key factors behind their pessimism. One is the challenging issue of the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel must release to secure the return of hostages held by Hamas, which was described as “a major sticking point” prior to the deaths of six hostages, including an American.
Additionally, the recent two-day attack on Hezbollah involving explosive pagers and walkie-talkies, followed by Israeli airstrikes, has heightened the chances of a full-scale war, further complicating diplomatic efforts with Hamas, the report stated.
“Another problem is that, according to Biden administration officials, Hamas makes demands and then refuses to say ‘yes’ after the U.S. and Israel accept them,” the report said.
John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. is “still putting our shoulder to the wheel to get the hostages home and get a cease-fire in place, as daunting as that is today.”
“And we are still involved in intensive diplomacy to try to prevent a second front from opening up on that border with Lebanon,” he said. “We aren’t any closer to that now than we were even a week ago.”
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified in recent days following a wave of explosions Wednesday that affected ICOM wireless devices across Lebanon, resulting in 25 deaths and 450 injuries.
The explosions followed similar blasts Tuesday that struck pager devices, leading to 12 deaths, including two children, and injuring 2,800 others, with 300 in critical condition.
The Lebanese government and Hezbollah held Israel responsible for the explosions and threatened it with “severe consequences.”
There has been no Israeli comment on the blasts, which occurred amid escalating cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,300 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.
