US President Joe Biden has told his national security advisers that reaching a truce in the Gaza Strip has become his priority until the end of his term, Politico newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources.
In this way, the head of state thinks that he will go down in history as a “peacemaker”, and will also be able to facilitate the victory of the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. However, according to sources, Washington's progress on the Gaza deal has been hampered by two main problems. First, Israel demands to maintain the presence of its contingent in the demilitarized zone near the border with Egypt, and the radical Palestinian movement Hamas flatly refuses to make concessions to this demand. Second, there are serious disagreements between Israel and Hamas over the scope and timing of the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages.
Nevertheless, the publication's sources reported that the president held a meeting with national security advisers and urged them to “ignore recent failures” and continue to work with both parties to the conflict and mediators to achieve a ceasefire. At the same time, Biden administration officials have expressed skepticism that a Gaza deal will be reached in the near future, given the lack of desire on both sides of the conflict.
On September 22, Biden told reporters that the United States would do everything possible to prevent the conflict in the Middle East from escalating into a full-scale war. The president also noted that he is disturbed by the growing tension in the region.