CrossFireArabia
Senior U.S. officials have privately acknowledged they don’t expect a Gaza ceasefire agreement to be reached before the end of President Biden’s term in January 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The newspaper cited top-level officials in the White House, State Department and Pentagon without naming them according to the Quds News Network.
“No deal is imminent,” one of the U.S. officials said. “I’m not sure it ever gets done.”
Officials cited two main reasons for the pessimism.
The two obstacles that have been especially difficult: Israel’s demand to keep forces in the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt and the specifics of an exchange deal of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
As a result, the mood inside the administration and in the Middle East is as gloomy as it has been in months, the newspaper said.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan met Wednesday with the relatives of the remaining seven American captives held in Gaza, telling them that securing their release was a top priority for Biden. But a statement from the families said they “expressed frustration with the lack of tangible progress” to Sullivan, urging the administration to make a deal as soon as possible.
John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, told reporters Wednesday the prospects of a completed deal were “daunting,” and though the administration signaled for months that a deal was near, said, “we aren’t any closer to that now than we were even a week ago.”
One of the officials said “it would be irresponsible” for the administration to give up seeking an agreement that brings at least temporary relief to the region. But the official also signaled frustration with the Israelis and Hamas.
“As we’ve said from the outset, it is going to require leadership and compromise,” the official said, “and we urge all sides to demonstrate it.”
“I can tell you that we do not believe that deal is falling apart,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday before the report was published.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said two weeks ago that 90% of a ceasefire deal had been agreed upon.
The United States and mediators Qatar and Egypt have for months attempted to secure a ceasefire but have failed to bring Israel and Hamas to a final agreement.
