US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will head to Israel next Saturday evening, on his sixth visit since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, amid expectations that the United States will intensify pressure to reach a solution regarding the ceasefire in light of an expected truce.

Observers who spoke to Sky News Arabia believe that the US President’s administration is facing more pressure to stop the war in Gaza, in light of the rejection of a large segment of young voters’ policy of absolute support for Israel, which threatens the popularity of potential presidential candidate Joe Biden. Therefore, the United States is intensifying its efforts to Its movements to establish a comprehensive ceasefire.

On Monday, Blinken expressed his hope of reaching an agreement to stop the fighting in Gaza in exchange for the release of the hostages. His statements came a day after the CIA director, the Qatari prime minister, and Israeli and Egyptian security officials met in Paris to develop a framework agreement to present to Hamas.

Blinken visited Israel earlier this month for a series of tense meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's wartime leadership, which yielded no results.

Democratic Party member Mahdi Afifi told Sky News Arabia that the US Secretary of State will press this time to reach a solution for a ceasefire in Gaza, and he is also expected to discuss the American proposal for a two-state solution.

The visit comes at a time when talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt appear to be making progress on a new agreement between Israel and Hamas aimed at the release of 136 Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a truce in Gaza, according to Afifi.

President Biden is facing increasing pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza inside America, according to Afifi, in light of the worsening humanitarian crisis inside the Strip and the increasing number of victims to a level historically unprecedented.

Afifi also points out the political pressure on the Biden administration from within Congress to stop policies of absolute support for Israel and advance American interests, so Blinken is intensifying diplomatic moves in order to reach a solution soon.

The focus of disagreement

According to Afifi, the dispute between the two sides revolves around two axes:

The US administration fully supports the two-state solution through the establishment of a Palestinian state. Which is rejected by the Netanyahu government.

The Biden administration is dissatisfied that Israel has not yet achieved the stated goals of its war on Gaza (liberating Israelis and foreigners and eliminating Hamas); Which means its duration will be prolonged as the number of civilian deaths continues to increase.

Will US pressure succeed?

American researcher Irina Tsukerman told "Sky News Arabia" that Biden faces a dilemma in the election year, which is to ensure the settlement of the Gaza war as quickly as possible, and on the other hand to appeal to diverse constituent bodies, with conflicting views on this issue, as well as managing regional and global crises. Multiple.

On the one hand, Biden needs Israel to succeed in crushing Hamas, because he wants to be seen as standing by a key ally in the Middle East, and because Hamas has shown to be not just a local or even a regional threat, but a global threat.

On the other hand, the controversy over humanitarian and human rights appeals after the Israeli massacres and high casualty numbers in Gaza has caused division among Western allies at a critical time when the United States needs their support on the Ukraine issue given the level of polarization in the United States.

Republicans are blocking any additional funding for Israel and Ukraine and focusing on other priorities.

The difficult effort to balance these concerns has therefore included pressure to get Israel to focus solely on high-level Hamas leadership while using smaller teams of members of the IDF, to increase humanitarian access, and even to scale back operations.

The conflict expands regardless of what Israel does or does not do, because it was planned that way by Iran and its proxies.

Israel is committed to its national security priorities, and no matter how much support the United States appreciates, it cannot afford not to completely destroy Hamas' military infrastructure, otherwise the conflict will renew with Hamas better positioned to fight this war later because of its political role. It turned out that it was not a small, marginal organization, but rather it had formed an army, a system, and the capabilities of a state.