蜜芽传媒

The escalation of the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants, which began on Monday, has prompted the UN to warn of a "full-scale war". There have been repeated calls from around the world for the two parties to refrain from violence, but the situation has been escalating. Some believe that the US is the country with the most influence over Israel, and should therefore intervene.

Aaron David Miller is a former US State Department Middle East negotiator and now a senior fellow at the think tank the Carnegie Endowment, in Washington DC. He looks back to negotiations during the Obama presidency, and says that although theoretically the US could bring their influence to bear on the Israeli government, he questions whether the Biden administration is prepared to "use the leverage it actually has".

Photo: Streaks of light are seen as Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile system intercept rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel May 12th 2021. Credit: Reuters