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25-12-2023
WASHINGTON/ JERUSALEM: The US has a new diplomatic objective in the Gaza War to convince Israel to scale back its military operations in coming weeks. This is a crucial test of the Biden administration and whether it succeeds could help determine the next phase of the war as well as the president’s own political fortunes back home.
In public, the American effort to shape and restrain Israel’s war has taken the form of advice rather than pressure.
US officials from Biden to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin have continually affirmed what they present as Israel’s right to self-defence and declared that a military operation which stops short of removing Hamas from power would only guarantee more attacks.
As the conflict wore on, they’ve also become more outspoken about the need to protect civilians, warning that not doing so would land Israel with a “strategic defeat”.
Much of the world sees this approach as failing to temper a relentless bombing campaign that ranks among the most deadly and destructive this century.
US officials insist their strategy has been the most effective way for the administration to influence an Israel traumatized by the unprecedented Hamas attack and disinclined to hold back.
Yet American policy since that day has fractured Joe Biden’s Democratic Party, lost him crucial support among young and Arab Americans and left the US looking isolated on the world stage.
So far, President Biden’s approach has achieved tangible, if limited, results.
Persistent and painstaking diplomacy cleared a path to allowing some humanitarian aid into Gaza early on in the war, and helped broker a seven-day ceasefire to encourage hostage releases and the delivery of more assistance to desperate civilians.
The Americans have certainly been very hands on. A steady stream of senior officials to the region has meant there’s been someone in the room much of the time, having the difficult conversations face to face.
“These trips are important because we have constant issues that we’re dealing with together with the Israelis,” said a US official.
Each of Blinken’s three visits to the region has been a whirlwind of activity and he’s been keen to highlight continued American efforts to free the hostages, increase humanitarian aid and ensure the conflict does not expand to consume the entire Middle East.
Progress on protecting civilians has been hard to see. This week the death toll in Gaza reached 20,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. The Hamas raid on southern Israel on 7 October killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw about 240 taken hostage. (Int’l News Desk)
