Cease-fire talks come at a key moment as Biden faces growing campus protests
WASHINGTON — Senior Biden administration officials are increasingly concerned about where protests on college campuses over the war in the Gaza Strip will expand to next and view a potential cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas as perhaps the only development that could quell some of the political blowback over President Joe Biden’s handling of the conflict.
WASHINGTON — Senior Biden administration officials are increasingly concerned about where protests on college campuses over the war in the Gaza Strip will expand to next and view a potential cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas as perhaps the only development that could quell some of the political blowback over President Joe Biden’s handling of the conflict.
The White House has for months been pursuing a cease-fire deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, but the current round of talks comes at a critical moment — both in the war and in Biden’s re-election campaign.
"There has to be this deal," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is shuttling across the Middle East trying to secure the deal, called on Hamas to accept it after he met Tuesday with the king of Jordan. Blinken is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.
U.S. officials see the current deal as the last and best one there is, in part because they say the Israelis have agreed to and compromised on key stipulations in this round of negotiations.
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