Egyptian officials have spoken with President-elect Donald Trump's team regarding a possible peace deal between Israel and the Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
As the Biden administration seeks a permanent cease-fire in Gaza before President Joe Biden leaves office on Jan. 20, Egyptian officials want to gauge whether Trump could convince Israel to compromise some of its key sticking points, The Wall Street Journal reported.
One key issue concerns a "buffer zone" between Israel and Gaza.
The Journal said Egyptian officials have told Hamas it now is isolated, especially after Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire with Israel in Lebanon, and that Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likely will not agree to a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.
Hebrew media reported Thursday that a confidential clause in the U.S.-Israel side agreement to the Lebanon cease-fire deal involves the U.S. committing to working with Israel to prevent Iran from destabilizing the region.
Trump and his team mostly have remained quiet as the Biden administration and France worked to form the Lebanon cease-fire, and as administration officials try to convince Israel and Hamas to agree on a peace deal.
Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, visited Mar-a-Lago earlier this month to brief Trump on the Lebanon talks.
One Trump ally did credit the president-elect with spurring the Lebanon cease-fire.
"Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump," Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice for national security adviser, wrote Tuesday on X.
"His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East."
While Biden seeks a big foreign-policy victory before leaving office, Trump undoubtedly would like to see one international crisis off his plate.
Still, huge challenges remain in seeking a peace agreement and the release of nearly 100 hostages held by Hamas. The terrorists have shown no signs they're ready for a Gaza cease-fire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20. Also, Netanyahu may want to wait until Trump takes office, hoping the new administration will allow him to continue the war against the terrorists.
"I'm skeptical that there will be a cease-fire deal in Gaza regardless of the coordination happening with the Trump transition team," Michael Hanna, a Middle East expert at the International Crisis Group, told the Journal.
Steven Cook, a senior fellow for the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations, added: "Netanyahu’s coalition partners don’t want a deal, and Hamas doesn’t want a deal."