The US secretary of state has arrived in Israel for 11th-hour talks aimed at shoring up a deal for a lasting ceasefire in the war in Gaza, amid signals from Israeli and Hamas officials that a breakthrough may not be as close as international mediators had suggested.
Antony Blinken flew into Tel Aviv on Sunday as part of Washington’s renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire in the 10-month-old conflict, negotiations seen as even more urgentafter last month’s back-to-back assassinations of a top Hezbollah commander and the Hamas political chief, Ismail Haniyeh.
It is hoped a ceasefire would lower the temperature in the Middle East and dissuade Iran and Hezbollah from retaliatory action that could cause the war in Gaza to slide quickly into a region-wide conflict.
I don’t think the Israeli right is interested. If you have the stomach, go listen to Gadi Taub’s analysis on the Quillette YouTube channel (I’m not going to link it, but if you go searching, content warning). They see this as the first episode of a multi year war with Iran. I would be honestly very surprised if Blinken gets what he wants.
If they strike first, they’re on their own, right? Right?