Biden has ‘total leverage’ over Israel in truce talks: Analyst
Rami Khouri, a distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut, says that while Hamas and Israel continue to be far apart in the ongoing ceasefire talks, the gap appears to be narrowing.
“When the CIA Director, Will Burns, joins the talks, it means something serious is happening,” he told Al Jazeera from Boston.
“One of the problems in situations like this is that whatever anybody says, it could be factual, it could be wishful thinking, it could be for domestic political advantage and it could be to hold off foreign pressures. So probably only about 30 to 40 percent of what people say – Israeli, American or Hamas – is accurate.”
Khouri added that Biden had “total leverage” over Israel if he wanted to exercise it.
“Because Israel cannot do anything militarily without the US. But the US president is hesitant to use that power. What we’ve seen from the US is a lot of verbal pressure, and threats and cajoling, but without any carry through. For instance, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made seven trips to Israel to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, and it’s increased by 10 percent or 15 percent.”
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