Can Biden Succeed in Stopping the Gaza War? An American Newspaper Responds

21st September 2024

2 minutes read

Can Biden Succeed in Stopping the Gaza War? An American Newspaper Responds

After dropping out of the presidential race, U.S. President Joe Biden said he would dedicate the remainder of his term in the White House to reaching an agreement to end the war in Gaza and bring back hostages. But will he succeed?

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The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials currently believe it is unlikely that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza will be reached before President Joe Biden leaves office in January.

The newspaper cited high-level officials from the White House, the State Department, and the Department of Defense (Pentagon) without naming them. These agencies have yet to respond to requests for comment.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday, before the report was published: “I can tell you that we do not believe the agreement is collapsing.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said two weeks ago that 90% of a ceasefire agreement had already been reached.

The United States, along with mediators from Qatar and Egypt, have been trying for months to broker a ceasefire, but these efforts have failed to get Israel and Hamas to finalize an agreement.

Two major obstacles remain. The first is Israel’s demand to keep forces in the Philadelphi Corridor (Salah ad-Din) between Gaza and Egypt. The second is the details surrounding the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The U.S. believes that reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza could ease tensions in the Middle East amid fears of the conflict expanding.

On May 31, Biden proposed a three-phase ceasefire plan and said at the time that Israel had agreed to it. However, with talks stalling, officials have been saying for weeks that a new proposal will be presented soon.

The Gaza war began on October 7 when Hamas attacked towns and settlements in southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 others hostage, according to Israeli statistics.

In response, Israel launched an all-out war on Gaza, resulting in the deaths of over 41,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian statistics. The war has also displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, caused a hunger crisis, and led to accusations of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice, which Israel denies.