President Biden announced on Friday afternoon, May 31, that as a result of his great personal efforts and those of his diplomatic and intelligence team, a grand “roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages” has been pulled together, which if Hamas accepts, will eventually lead to peace. An unnamed “senior administration official” reported in a background briefing after the President spoke, that the three-phase proposal is formalized in a four-and-a-half page document, which all parties now have.
Put aside all the media discussion of the details of each proposed phase, of what will work, where the stumbling blocks are, etc. The proposal is a geopolitical gambit, the very premises of which ensure that it cannot work, and will not bring peace.
First, there is no mention of a Palestinian state. AP reporter Aamer Madhani questioned the senior official about how a two-state solution comes in, if at all, since it was not mentioned. The official danced around the question, but never uttered the phrase “Palestinian state.” The administration is “realistic,” he said, and spoke of excluding Hamas, reforming the Palestinian Authority and the West Bank [sic], and “ultimately having an interim administration in Gaza that can help [sic] with stabilization and a pathway forward there.”
