Biden's Middle East Peace Efforts Suffer Setbacks

President Joe Biden's efforts to tamp down tensions in the escalating war between Israel and Hamas faced massive setbacks even before he departed for the Middle East on Tuesday. Jordan called off the president's planned summit with Arab leaders after a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital killed hundreds.

Postponement of Amman Summit

Now, Biden will visit only Israel and will postpone his travel to Jordan, a White House official said as Biden departed. The postponement of the Amman summit comes after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas withdrew from the scheduled meetings in protest of the attacks, which the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza blamed on an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military said it had no involvement and pinned the blame on a misfired Palestinian rocket.

Volatile Situation

Ayman Safadi, Jordan's foreign minister, told al-Mamlaka TV, a state-run network, "This war and this aggression are pushing the region to the brink." He said Jordan would only host the summit when all participants agreed on its purpose, which would be to "stop the war, respect the humanity of the Palestinians, and deliver the aid they deserve."

Biden's High-Stakes Trip

The cancellation reflects an increasingly volatile situation that will test the limits of American influence in the region as Biden visits Wednesday. Biden's decision to put himself in a conflict zone—the same year he made a surprise visit to Ukraine—demonstrates his willingness to take personal and political risks as he becomes heavily invested in another intractable foreign conflict with no clear end game and plenty of opportunity for things to spiral out of control.

US Diplomatic Efforts

The high-stakes presidential trip is emblematic of Biden's belief that the United States should not turn back from its central role on the global stage and his faith that personal diplomacy can play a decisive role. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, bouncing back and forth between Arab and Israeli leadership ahead of Biden's visit, spent seven and a half hours meeting Monday in Tel Aviv in an effort to broker some kind of aid agreement and emerged with a green light to create a plan on how aid can enter Gaza and be distributed to civilians.

Support for Israel and Humanitarian Concerns

Biden has a long track record of showing public support for Israel while expressing concerns privately to the Israelis about their behavior. In the US, Biden has won rare praise from Republicans over his leadership on Israel, but prospects for providing additional aid are uncertain.

Regional Implications

The Israel-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing for decades, and to a large extent, it's involved the same cadre of men. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history. Abbas has been Palestinian president for nearly 20 years. Abdullah II has been king since 1999—Biden has called the Jordanian king a loyal ally in a "tough neighborhood." El-Sissi is the newest leader, president since 2014.

It's important for these leaders, too, to avoid a prolonged and engulfing regional escalation, particularly as Egypt and Jordan face growing economic tumult. In September, the International Monetary Fund issued a report saying that Egypt and Jordan are among the countries in the region that "stand at the brink of a debt crisis." Egypt, in particular, is struggling with high inflation.

Mounting Death Toll

Meanwhile, the death toll is mounting even without the war's next stage. Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 2,700 people and wounded more than 9,700, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Nearly two-thirds of those killed were children, a ministry official said. Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead. More than 1 million Palestinians have fled their homes—roughly half of Gaza's population—and 60% are now in the approximately 8-mile-long 14-kilometer-long area south of the evacuation zone, according to the United Nations.

President Biden's Middle East trip has faced significant setbacks even before he departed for the region. The postponement of the Amman summit and the withdrawal of key Arab leaders reflect the volatile situation and the challenges Biden faces in trying to tamp down tensions between Israel and Hamas. Despite these setbacks, Biden's visit to Israel and his efforts to broker a humanitarian aid agreement demonstrate his commitment to American leadership on the global stage and his belief in the power of personal diplomacy.