Former US State Department Middle East Negotiator Aaron Miller, who served under six US secretaries of state on Arab-Israel affairs, told FRANCE 24 on Tuesday that Israel's strategy in Gaza has essentially "broken down" despite its army’s progress in the enclave.
"Hamas is going to survive in some form", and is "likely to continue to play a critical role in the formation of Palestinian politics, both in Gaza and perhaps even beyond that given the weakness of the Palestinian Authority", said Miller, now senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
Israel’s increasingly fraught relationship with the US
In halting a shipment of thousands of bombs on May 8, US President Joe Biden sent his most serious signal yet both to Israel and his domestic critics.
However, the pause in arms is not "an embargo" and the situation is not "unprecedented" Miller said, pointing to previous moments in history where American presidents had acted more forcefully towards Israel.
Read moreWhy the US suspended a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel
While the past few weeks may represent "the most fraught and stressful period in the US-Israeli relationship", the Biden administration is unlikely to “adopt steps that would create a sustained public breach” between the two countries, Miller said.
“If the [US] administration is to have any hope of extricating itself from Gaza anytime soon, it will have to do so in conjunction with, not over the opposition of, the current Israeli government,” Miller added.
Click the video player to watch the full interview.
