Israel-Hamas Might Not Agree To Hostage Deal Before End Of Biden's Term: Report

Following a report Tuesday that Joe Biden's national security advisors have no plans to provide an updated Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, a new report citing top officials in the White House claims that a ceasefire deal is unlikely during Biden's term as President. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that amid reports of no updated proposal for ceasefire, the top officials, who spoke anonymously, said that Israel and Hamas are unlikely to agree to the current deal. The officials were from the White House, State Department and the Pentagon, the report said. Over the last few weeks, the Middle East has seen rapid escalation, with Hezbollah being attacked with two consecutive days of pager and other wireless communication devices explosion killing over 30 and injuring hundreds. Earlier this month, Hamas said that they are ready to implement an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza without any fresh conditions. However, the talks in the deal have since stalled, with the WSJ Report claiming that the deal is unlikely to be implemented before Biden's term ends. Meanwhile, the officials cited in the WSJ report provided two key reasons why they think the deal will not be implemented. The first, they say, is the release ratio of Palestinian prisoners required by Israel to secure the return of Hamas-held hostages. It was a major issue before Hamas killed six hostages, including an American but the situation has worsened with the two-day attack on Hezbollah using explosive pagers and walkie-talkies. This escalation has increased the likelihood of full-scale conflict and complicated diplomatic efforts with Hamas, especially after Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure Wednesday, shortly after the walkie-talkie explosions. “There’s no chance now of it happening,” a Middle Eastern official quoted in the WSJ report said after Wednesday's walkie-talkie attack “Everyone is in a wait-and-see mode until after the election. The outcome will determine what can happen in the next administration.”Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, said Israel crossed a “red line” this week after the remotely detonated device explosions. Although widely blamed, Israel is yet to confirm or deny having a role in it. Notably, Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ attack on October 7, coming close to a full-blown war on several occasions.