The government of Joe Biden has started final diplomatic push for stability across troubled Middle East.
A ceasefire would give President Joe Biden a final diplomatic victory after a turbulent term in which his administration has been unable to halt a brutal war
Top US officials were in the Middle East on Thursday, pushing for stability in Syria and an end to Israel’s 14-month war in the Gaza Strip in a last-ditch diplomatic push by the outgoing Biden administration before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in a few weeks.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jordan and Turkey for talks on how to ensure a peaceful transition of power in Syria following the ouster of longtime President Bashar Assad, while White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan was in Israel in a bid to wrap up a ceasefire with Hamas militants.
A ceasefire would give President Joe Biden a final diplomatic victory after a turbulent term in which his administration has been unable to halt a brutal war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Gaza and plunged the territory into a humanitarian crisis.
Trump has demanded the immediate release of hostages, threatening on social media that otherwise there would be HELL TO Pay.
The President-elect has urged the US not to get involved in Syria, where some 900 troops are based to combat the Islamic State militant group.
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Sullivan expressed cautious optimism that conditions were ripe for halting the long-running conflict before the Biden administration leaves office.
I wouldn’t be here now if I didn’t think this thing was just waiting until after January 20, he said. That’s when Trump will be inaugurated.
The war erupted with Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, cross-border attack, in which militants killed some 1,200 people in Israel and took 250 others hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed nearly 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials, caused widespread displacement and led to severe hunger across the territory.
