By Athena Papakosta

As the international media and foreign analysts try to decipher the next day of the war and as the pressures and calls of the international community for a suspension of hostilities in the Gaza Strip increase, some choose to keep their eyes on the diplomatic chessboard and above all to the attitude of Israel’s closest ally, that of the United States.

Washington is the one that from the first moment stood by Israel with the American president himself, Joe Biden, immediately and unequivocally condemning the attack by Hamas, speaking of “the deadliest day for the Jews since the Holocaust”. to support Israel’s right to defend itself and to strengthen the American military presence in the region with the aim of preventing aggressive moves by Iran and its “satellites”.

But the model of the United States’ behavior from October 7 to today seems to be changing behind closed doors, with analysts noting that there is pressure from Washington to change… tactics.

US President Joe Biden may have reiterated that Hamas is committing war crimes as he pointed out that it has military infrastructure under “a hospital” and may have added that he is certain of the “fact” citing US intelligence evidence Intelligence, however, said Israel has a responsibility to be as careful as possible when striking targets.

“We told them. We discussed the need for them to be extremely careful” were the exact words of the American president implying that the US has (discussed) a different tactic.

After all, it was preceded by the statements of the representative of the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby, who had emphasized that “we have always been absolutely clear with our Israeli partners about the importance of minimizing civilian casualties. We’ve also been very clear about the fact that they have to be very careful when we talk about hospitals.”

At the same time, Washington has not shown any satisfaction with Israel’s plans for the next day in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking to the Financial Times, the Israeli president stressed that Israel cannot leave a vacuum in Gaza, adding that it must maintain a strong presence there in the near future to prevent the re-emergence of Hamas. The relevant statements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have also preceded.

However, on the other side of the Atlantic, Joe Biden a few hours ago repeated that Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip would be a big mistake.

“I made it clear to Israel,” he said, emphasizing that he told the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he did not believe the war would end if the two-state solution was not implemented.

The United States has already reiterated its opposition to the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. They have further opposed the reduction of its territory and in favor of governing Gaza and the West Bank in a unified manner under the leadership of the Palestinian Authority thus including the two-state solution and clarifying that Gaza should not be used as a “platform » for terrorism and violent attacks.

Challenges and calculations

The diplomatic challenge facing Joe Biden is great. The leaders of the Arab countries are calling for immediate aid to the civilians of the besieged Palestinian enclave as well as an immediate, sustainable ceasefire while the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of adopting a draft resolution calling for a humanitarian cessation of hostilities in the Strip. Gaza with the US abstaining and not vetoing.

The US president wants Israel to defeat Hamas. But he also wants to prevent Israel’s enemies in the region from getting involved in the war.

As the destruction spread by Israeli companies expands, Washington’s mission becomes more difficult as the American president himself is now in the pre-election period. The United States has an election in less than a year and 68% of American citizens, according to a Reuters poll, want a ceasefire, with voices within Democrats growing louder as the war continues.

Washington’s political calculations are therefore inevitable with analysts stressing that the US president himself will be linked to the outcome of the war as the US is forced back into the Middle East.