US election deciding factor in Gaza peace process
China DailyPalestinians walk at the site of Israeli strikes that hit a residential building and destroyed shops at Gaza's Old City market, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City on July 4. Despite the growing support in Israel for a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would involve the release of at least some of the Israeli hostages still held by the militant group, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a tough statement on Sunday night saying he would only agree to a deal that would "allow Israel to resume fighting until all of the objectives of the war have been achieved." By reiterating his long-held position that the war must continue until Israel has destroyed Hamas' military and governing abilities in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli leader has made it clear that his government has no intention of implementing the UN Security Council resolution that was passed last month on a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. In response to Netanyahu's statement, Hamas, which opposes any cease-fire unless it is permanent, said in a statement released on Monday that Israel's continuing military operations across Gaza risked returning "the negotiating process to point zero". After President Joe Biden's poor performance in the first public televised debate last week with the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who vehemently attacked the Biden administration's policy of unconditional support for Tel Aviv, it is widely predicted that Biden will lose the election in less than four months.