Admin Pushes fo Mideast Stability      12/13 06:13

   

   AQABA, Jordan (AP) -- Top U.S. officials were in the Middle East on 
Thursday, pushing for stability in Syria and an end to Israel's 14-month war in 
the Gaza Strip in a last-ditch diplomatic push by the outgoing Biden 
administration before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in a few weeks.

   Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jordan and Turkey for talks on how 
to ensure a peaceful transition of power in Syria following the ouster of 
longtime President Bashar Assad, while White House national security adviser 
Jake Sullivan was in Israel in a bid to wrap up a ceasefire with Hamas 
militants.

   A ceasefire would give President Joe Biden a final diplomatic victory after 
a turbulent term in which his administration has been unable to halt a brutal 
war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Gaza and plunged the 
territory into a humanitarian crisis.

   Trump has demanded the immediate release of hostages, threatening on social 
media that otherwise there would be "HELL TO PAY," and has urged the U.S. not 
to get involved in Syria, where some 900 troops are based to combat the Islamic 
State militant group.

   U.S. expresses hope for a Gaza ceasefire

   Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Sullivan expressed cautious optimism that 
conditions were ripe for halting the long-running conflict before the Biden 
administration leaves office.

   "I wouldn't be here now if I didn't think this thing was just waiting until 
after January 20," he said of when Trump will be inaugurated.

   The war erupted with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack, in which 
militants killed some 1,200 people in Israel and took 250 others hostage. 
Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed nearly 45,000 Palestinians, 
more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials, 
caused widespread displacement and led to severe hunger across the territory.

   U.S.-led ceasefire efforts have repeatedly faltered throughout the war, with 
the warring sides blaming each other for the failure.

   Israel has said it is seeking the destruction of Hamas' governing and 
military capabilities, at times pressing ahead with the offensive in the face 
of U.S. calls for restraint. Hamas, meanwhile, has stuck to its demands that 
any ceasefire include a permanent end to the fighting and full withdrawal of 
Israeli forces from Gaza.

   The U.S. has backed Israel with key military and diplomatic support. But at 
times, it also has appeared helpless in urging Israel to minimize civilian 
casualties and to enable the delivery of more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

   Sullivan said the rapid-fire changes across the region have improved the 
chances for success.

   He said Israel's ceasefire with Hezbollah last month, ending more than a 
year of fighting, the collapse of Syria's government and the heavy blow Israel 
has inflicted on Hamas have all changed the negotiating climate.

   He also said there has been good cooperation with the incoming Trump 
administration, with widespread agreement between them.

   "The surround sound of these negotiations is different today than it has 
been in the past," Sullivan told reporters after meeting with Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu.

   "I got the sense from the prime minister that he's ready to do the deal," 
Sullivan added. "We see movement from Hamas."

   Sullivan is now scheduled to head to Qatar and Egypt, which have served as 
mediators throughout the war.

   Any deal would include the release of hostages held by Hamas, an exchange of 
Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and a surge in badly needed humanitarian 
aid into Gaza. Israel says Hamas is holding about 100 hostages -- at least 
one-third of whom are believed to have died.

   Seeking stability in Syria

   As Sullivan was in Israel, Blinken met with Jordanian and Turkish leaders to 
push for a peaceful transition of power in post-Assad Syria.

   "We're back in the region at a time of both real promise but also peril for 
Syria and for its neighbors," Blinken told reporters in Aqaba, Jordan, after 
meeting with King Abdullah II.

   He said the U.S. was working with its regional partners to help Syria 
"transition away from Assad's brutal dictatorship" and toward a new government 
that isn't dominated by any single religious or ethnic group, by an outside 
power or the Islamic State militant group.

   "We're determined to do everything we can, working in close coordination 
with partners, to help the Syrian people realize that aspiration," Blinken said.

   Syria is home to an array of armed groups with competing interests and 
allies.

   In northern Syria, U.S.-backed Kurdish separatists are battling to fend off 
fighters supported by Turkey. In the country's center and northeast, the 
extremist Islamic State group maintains a presence that generates concern for 
the U.S. And the rebels, hailing mainly from the Sunni Muslim majority in 
Syria, face the daunting task of creating a transitional government for the 
war-ravaged country.

   The leader of Syria's biggest rebel faction is a former al-Qaida commander 
whose Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group is poised to chart the country's future. The 
U.S. and the U.N. have designated the hardline Sunni Islamist group a terrorist 
organization.

   The goal of creating a free and pluralistic Syria will be a challenge given 
the bad blood stretching across Syria's sectarian lines after over half a 
century of Assad family rule and more than 13 years of civil war that claimed 
an estimated 500,000 lives.

   Blinken started his trip in Jordan, a close U.S. ally whose fragile economy 
has been strained over the years by an influx of hundreds of thousands of 
Syrian refugees. He then went to Turkey -- a backer of Sunni rebels but a foe 
of the Kurds.

   In a late-night meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a VIP 
lounge at Ankara's airport, Blinken pressed the importance of keeping up the 
fight against IS. Officials called it an effort to urge the Turks not to launch 
military operations against U.S.-backed Kurdish rebels who Washington believes 
have been critical to battling IS.

   Blinken "emphasized the need to ensure the coalition to defeat ISIS can 
continue to execute its critical mission," the State Department said, using 
another acronym for the Islamic State group.

   How the U.S. sees Israel's moves in Syria

   Israel, meanwhile, has sent troops into Syria -- its northern neighbor -- 
and seized a former buffer zone that had been demilitarized since a 1974 truce. 
Israel has described it as defensive, meant to protect its border and prevent 
armed groups from seizing weapons left behind by Assad's army.

   Netanyahu said Thursday that the move was temporary. But he said Israel 
would remain inside Syria until another party can secure the border, raising 
the likelihood of a prolonged and open-ended presence.

   Sullivan tried to play down the Israeli move, noting that Assad was toppled 
just days ago and it is too early to jump to any conclusions.

   But Blinken was more cautious as he called for restraint by all regional 
players with interests in Syria. He said the U.S. is "already talking to 
Israel" and others about the future of Syria.

   "Across the board, when it comes to any actors who have real interests in 
Syria, it's also really important at this time that we all try to make sure 
that we're not sparking any additional conflicts," he said.