American planes fly over Gaza looking for hostages

American President Joe Biden’s statements on the need for a “pause” in the war between Israel and Hamas have raised several questions about the possibilities of achieving it and the ability to convince Tel Aviv, but at an internal American level they have opened the door to talking about the extent of the coherence or confusion of White House policies during this war.

At the partisan level, the US presidential call for a pause has been met with speculation – and sometimes accusations – that the Biden administration has submitted to his party’s “left and progressive demands” for a ceasefire, indicating the growth of a trend that raises concerns within the “Democratic Party” over the country’s foreign policy towards Palestinian civilians and what they see as “blind support” for the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. On the other hand, Biden, of course, has faced widespread anger and resentment from Israel’s defenders.

Biden’s statement about the “pause” came during his speech in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening to raise donations for his campaign, when a woman named Jessica Rosenberg asked him to call for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, to which Biden responded by supporting the idea, saying, “I think ‘We need a pause, to have time to extract the prisoners.’

Biden added, defending his administration’s policies: “It was I who convinced Bibi (Netanyahu) to call for a ceasefire to free the prisoners, and I was the one who talked to Al-Sisi (Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al- Sisi) to convince him to open the door of the Rafah crossing.”

Biden spoke of the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, saying: “We have seen the heartbreaking images of Gaza, of children sleeping while crying for the loss of their parents, and parents writing their children’s names on their hands and feet so that they can be identified if they die under the rubble.” And she added: “Every life is innocent.” “Losing is a tragedy.”

The progressive movement within the Democratic Party has warned the Biden administration of undermining American democracy and the cost of moral responsibility for the deaths of thousands of innocent Palestinians. On the other hand, some Republican lawmakers have expressed their anger, as Senator Marsha Blackburn said on platform “X”: “President Biden is now calling for a ceasefire and saying: we need a pause between Israel and Hamas” , and asked: “Where have your declarations of solid support for Israel gone?”

Political confusion

The Biden administration’s strategy, according to the statements of its officials, focuses on two fundamental objectives: The first: eliminate Hamas, the second: avoid a regional war. But he faces an attack from the right, which accuses him of “unwillingness to provide strong aid and a strong position in support of Israel and its right to defend itself.”

The administration is also facing an attack from the progressive left, which is calling for a ceasefire and the adoption of a “humanitarian truce” to protect civilians who are falling day after day, amid concerns of “ Democratic Party” to lose the power votes of many Arab-American and Muslim voters in the next presidential election. Biden also faces growing pressure from both the right and left to remove besieged Americans and hostages from the region.

Public advice and actual violations

Publicly, Biden and members of his administration have stressed the need for Israel to “respect the laws of war and international humanitarian law and take all possible measures to avoid civilian casualties.” practical violations committed by Israel during the war against Gaza.

Referring to the attempt to avoid the growing American embarrassment following what Israel is doing, John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, tried to justify himself by saying: “The loss of innocent lives is a tragic and inevitable consequence during war,” and underlined the existence of what he described as “evidence.” “Documented” shows that “Hamas uses civilians as human shields.”

Zaha Hassan, a researcher at the Carnegie Foundation for Studies, says: “International law determines the conduct of war and the standards that are considered self-defense, and therefore it cannot be said that everything is permissible or that a war crime justifies it another”. .”

Human Rights Watch has described Israeli attacks on Gaza’s civilian population as a “war crime.”

Plans and expansion

While the Biden administration is trying to show some kind of independence when it comes to Israeli operational plans and “not to interfere in imposing its vision on Israel.” Multiple White House sources indicate that “Washington is trying to persuade Tel Aviv to follow a phased approach to achieve its goal of pursuing Hamas instead of a large-scale ground attack that would lead to huge numbers of civilian casualties.”

Behind the scenes, Biden administration officials talk to their Israeli counterparts about “fears and harm resulting from Israel’s actions and thousands of civilian casualties, which will unleash an overwhelming conflict and increase Israel’s isolation in the region.”

Daniel Byman, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), believes that “there are justified fears in the Biden administration regarding Israel’s actions that could lead to Hezbollah’s involvement in the battle.” And he continues: “A broader war involving Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups will pose a serious threat to Israel and increase the threat of international terrorism.”

End of the war

Amid calls for ceasefire and support for Israel, the US administration sees confusion, not only in terms of reducing or increasing support, but also in terms of formulating solid policies and a clearly defined plan for after the end of the fighting phase, and regarding the fate of Gaza and the Palestinians.

The shape of the end of the combat phase is shrouded in mystery. Israel, for its part, says its “goal in this war is to cleanse Gaza of (Hamas), eliminate the movement and destroy its military structure,” an objective that is the subject of extensive talks between Israeli and American officials.

There is much discussion about Israel’s desire to reoccupy Gaza, even temporarily, and there is talk of transferring authority in Gaza to the control of the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, as well as some ideas about arrangements to call in “international maintenance forces of peace”. maintain security when military actions subside and examined the possibility of proposing a broader “political solution” between Israelis and Palestinians.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, said: “While American officials say they are asking Israel tough questions about its military operations and long-term war goals, what will the end of military operations and war look like for Washington remains ambiguous.”

He adds: “There appears to be no clear end point for the Biden administration regarding the strategic consequences of the war and how to manage it in a way that leads to the desired results.”

While Biden has expressed his opposition to restoring Israel’s control over the Gaza Strip, and the White House has repeatedly denied its intention to deploy American forces to Gaza; However, Washington is working to strengthen its military presence by sending advisers to Tel Aviv to provide advice and support amid fears of an expansion of the conflict after repeated clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.