American President Biden seems to be strongly committed to creating an image of himself as a peacemaker. The US is now trying to get a UN resolution using the same wording he used to try to jump start the hostage negotiations. Hamas hasn’t said yes, but they also haven’t said no. The Israeli government coalition is seriously split about it. Some are totally against it. If the war cabinet accepts it (and I think they will) it could lead to a no confidence vote and new elections (and it also might result in at least some of the hostages being released).
Regarding those hostages; Hamas has now said that 4 more of them are confirmed dead and Israel is accepting that assessment. The bodies are still held by Hamas. Also, one more of those missing and presumed held individuals has been confirmed as dead from DNA taken from a body found inside Israeli territory. All this can be taken as support for the position that time is running out for bringing anyone home alive.
Biden thinks that Hezbollah will stop shooting once his new proposal is accepted by Hamas. There are a number of people in Israel, especially military or retired military, that do not agree with this. Given that the media still ignores the war on Israel’s northern border, there is still a strong chance of the war in Lebanon escalating. I wonder what the US administration is doing about that.
Wetherhorn 