Bidens plan fbr Middle East peace a fifagile hope amid Trump transition

After ceasefire deal in Lebanon, focus now shifts to the Israel-Gaza conflict

- Bhagyashree Garekar

In the ebbing days of his administration, President Ioe Biden has turned to high-stakes diplomacy to carve a path towards peace in the Middle East.

If the Nov 27 ceasefire brokered by Mr Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron is upheld, the deadliest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that raged for 14 months - will come to a close, bringing relief to some 70,000 people in Israel and 300,000 in Lebanon.

Over the next 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw its remaining forces in southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah will not be allowed to rebuild an attack base there, as per the deal for which the Biden administration strained for months.

As he announced the "permanent" cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, Mr Biden raised expectations of a similar truce in war-wracked Gaza.

The United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza in the coming days, he said as he announced his wish for a second deal that is key to his desire to leave office after having restored calm to a region that was roiled during his watch.

Mr Biden said: "To that end, the US remains prepared to conclude a set of historic deals with Saudi Arabia to include a security pact and economic assurances together with a credible pathway for establishing a Palestinian state and the full normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel."

His open outreach to regional power Saudi Arabia to solve the problem is an important next step that also seeks the more ambitious goal of aligning Washington's two key allies in the region, which share concerns about Iran and its proxies.