Israel’s ceasefire with Lebanon makes peace in Gaza ever less likely

Benjamin Netanyahu has become increasingly reliant on his status as a wartime leader to keep prosecutions on various corruption charges at bay. Photograph: AP

Joe Biden has revived diplomatic efforts to achieve a truce in Gaza with the hope of building on momentum generated by the newly agreed ceasefire in Lebanon.

There are doubts, however, that such momentum exists outside the Biden administration, which is anxious to use its last few weeks to salvage scraps of diplomatic honour after the bloody past 14 months in the Middle East.