US officials doubtful of reaching Gaza cease-fire deal before Biden's term ends: Report

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - Senior US officials are now privately admitting that they do not anticipate Israel and Hamas reaching a cease-fire deal before President Joe Biden’s term concludes, according to a report Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration will continue to pursue a deal, viewing it as the sole path to ending the war in Gaza and halting the intensifying conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"No deal is imminent. I'm not sure it ever gets done," one of the US officials told the Journal.

According to the report, the officials pointed to two key factors behind their pessimism.

It said one is the difficult issue of the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel must release to secure the return of the hostages in the hands of Hamas, which it said was "a major sticking point" before the deaths of six hostages, including an American.

In addition, the recent two-day attack on Hezbollah involving explosive pagers and walkie-talkies, followed by Israeli airstrikes, has heightened the chances of a full-scale war, further complicating diplomatic efforts with Hamas, said the report.

"Another problem is that, according to Biden administration officials, Hamas makes demands and then refuses to say 'yes' after the U.S. and Israel accept them," said the report.

John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, told reporters Wednesday that the US is "still putting our shoulder to the wheel to get the hostages home and get a cease-fire in place, as daunting as that is today."

"And we are still involved in intensive diplomacy to try to prevent a second front from opening up on that border with Lebanon," he said. "We aren't any closer to that now than we were even a week ago."

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified in recent days following a wave of explosions Wednesday that affected ICOM wireless devices across Lebanon, resulting in 25 deaths and 450 injuries.

The explosions followed similar blasts Tuesday that struck pager devices, leading to 12 deaths, including two children, and injuring 2,800 others, with 300 in critical condition.

The Lebanese government and Hezbollah group held Israel responsible for the explosions and threatened it with “severe consequences.”

There has been no Israeli comment on the blasts, which came amid an escalation in cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,300 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7.