By Simon Lewis and Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden’s top aides were heading to the Middle East on Wednesday seeking to advance efforts to reach an elusive Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal and help ensure a smooth transition in Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to visit Jordan and Turkey, while U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan planned stops in Israel, Qatar and Egypt in coming days, U.S. officials said.
The high-level tours could help shape Biden’s legacy in the turbulent Middle East in the final weeks of his term before former President Donald Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20. But it is unclear whether Biden has enough leverage in the region to secure major agreements before he leaves office.
Biden administration officials have kept Trump’s aides updated on their diplomatic efforts, though they insist they are not directly coordinating with the incoming administration.
High on the agenda for Biden’s aides will be the future of Syria, where opposition militias overthrew Assad over the weekend, ending a 50-year family dynasty in a shockingly fast takeover after 13 years of civil war.
Blinken, who will visit Aqaba in Jordan and Ankara through Friday, will “reiterate the United States’ support for an inclusive, Syrian-led transition to an accountable and representative government,” the State Department said.
The Biden administration, along with governments in the region and the West, has been scrambling to find ways to engage with the Syrian rebel groups including leading rebel faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group formerly allied with Al Qaeda and which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., European Union, Turkey and the U.N.
Blinken and Sullivan will also try to make progress toward a deal to end the 14-month war in Gaza and win the release of the remaining hostages held there by the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Such an agreement, which has involved mediation by Qatar and Egypt, has hit one obstacle after another.
Trump warned last week there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if hostages held in Gaza were not released before his January inauguration. A U.S. official said the threat was not necessarily counterproductive or helpful to the process.
SEEKING TO BUILD MOMENTUM
The Biden administration hopes that the recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon as well as the ouster of Assad, a close ally of Tehran, could help build momentum toward a Gaza accord.
“Hamas has got to be looking out at the world today and realizing that the cavalry is not coming to rescue them,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday. “One would hope that recent developments in Syria reinforce for them that they are just increasingly isolated and ought to take a deal.”
Still, the prospects for progress remain tempered after months of unsuccessful diplomacy.
Sullivan’s trip is not meant “to suggest that we’re near completion or have something we can lock down” but the aim instead is to move forward as much as possible,” a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Sullivan will meet Israeli leaders on Thursday and then travel to Qatar and Egypt.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz told his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin in a phone call that there is a “now a chance” for a deal that will free all of the remaining hostages, Katz’s office said in a statement.
A Palestinian official close to the talks described “intensive contacts” but “nothing concrete yet.” The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pressure from Trump and his camp “gives the talks a boost,” but did not elaborate.
“We are keeping them informed,” the U.S. official. “Making sure nothing we say or do is a surprise to them.”
Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, met in late November with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in a push for a Gaza deal before the U.S. inauguration, a source briefed on the talks has previously told Reuters.
Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, was due to meet families of the remaining American-Israeli hostages on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Sullivan held his latest in a series of meetings with hostage families on Tuesday, U.S. officials said.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Matt Spetalnick, additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Alexandra Hudson and Deepa Babington)
