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14 August 2024

The mediators struggle to keep a lid on a blood feud - Opinion

David Ignatius

The United States is a superpower. Yet for nine months it has been unable to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Now, with the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday, the blood feud between the two appeared to deepen, with American peacemakers standing on the sidelines.

Israel didn’t comment on the death of Haniyeh in Tehran, but it didn’t need to. Since the Israel-Gaza war began, it’s been clear that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would take unilateral measures, regardless of American advice, to repay Hamas for its ghastly Oct. 7 attack on Israel. His goal isn’t making peace with Hamas, but destroying it. And most Israelis probably agree with him.

That left Biden administration officials scrambling once again Wednesday to keep the lid on a dangerous situation, stressing that nobody wants a regional cataclysm and that hopes for a durable cease-fire remain alive. White House officials believe the key channels to Hamas leadership were inside Gaza, not Haniyeh from his outside base in Qatar. And perhaps, they hope, the death of the nominal Hamas leader will give Netanyahu more space to negotiate.

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