As the 2024 presidential election closes in, Biden administration officials have become increasingly concerned that Israel and Hamas will not reach a ceasefire, Politico reported Wednsday.
President Joe Biden has come under increasing pressure from advocacy groups and his voting bloc to ensure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is achieved so that the war in Gaza will end. The Biden administration is reportedly getting nervous that the current framework for a ceasefire deal, as proposed by Biden in late May, will fail and the fighting will continue for months, Politico reported, citing four U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
“No one is confident this deal is going to move forward in the way the administration had hoped,” one U.S. official told Politico, who was briefed by the White House on the current status of ceasefire talks. “There are so many unknowns.”
The ceasefire proposal laid out by Biden comes in three phases — first, a temporary ceasefire for six weeks for the release of some hostages; second, a permanent ceasefire and the release of all remaining hostages; third, the beginning of reconstruction operations in Gaza. Israel and Hamas favored some aspects of the deal but can’t agree on how to actually end the war, two U.S. officials granted anonymity to speak told Politico.
“The sticking point” is phase two of the deal, one official told Politico. “If phase one could’ve been done in a vacuum, we would’ve done it by now.”
Neither Israel or Hamas appear to be willing to compromise on the deal — Hamas wants full concessions on ending the war before it releases hostages to Israel, and Israel has hinted that it won’t seek a permanent ceasefire until Hamas has been thoroughly defeated. Worse, U.S. officials believe that even if the phase one, short-term ceasefire was reached, it would fail, as there have been multiple ceasefires in Gaza that have broken down before, according to Politico.
“I think this is going to go on until at least the end of 2024,” one U.S. official told Politico.
Biden is under intense scrutiny from his base who believe he is not doing enough to end the war completely. Muslim voting blocs in particular have been upset with Biden’s handling of the war — some Arab communities and advocacy groups in the key battleground state of Michigan have threatened to withhold their vote unless Biden takes more direct action.
Biden won Michigan’s primary elections in February, but lost out on 100,000 voters who chose the “uncommitted” option. There are roughly 200,000 registered Muslim voters in Michigan.
Roughly 44% of registered Democrats believe Biden has done a poor job handling the war — as well as the U.S. university campus protests that have broken out across the country — and some said it made them less likely to vote for Biden in the November presidential election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from May.
As of June 19, former President Donald Trump is leading Biden by 0.8% in an average of polls, according to RealClear Polling.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
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