President Joe Biden, on the backfoot on board Air Force One, defended his Tel Aviv visit. Biden claimed that 20 trucks of aid would enter Gaza from the Rafah border on Friday. He hopes to push that number to 150 soon. Even before landing in Israel, he announced that Egypt had agreed to allow movement of aid into Gaza. But not a single aid truck has crossed over yet. So has all the legwork by Anthony Blinken come to naught?
Instead of aid trucks rolling into Gaza from Egypt, Israeli tanks lined up at the Gaza border shortly after Biden left and UK PM Rishi Sunak arrived in Tel Aviv. So, what exactly has Joe Biden 'got done'?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dug in his heels on not allowing aid into Gaza until the hostages are released and Hamas is steadfast on not releasing any hostages until there is ceasefire. Drawing a comparison with the Russia-Ukraine war, Palestine has been calling out what it terms as doublespeak by the United States for a while now.
The attack on Al Ahli Hospital has left Biden isolated in the Arab world too. Neither Egypt nor Jordan hosted him. Jordan cancelled Saturday's emergency Summit.
In the world of diplomatic negotiations having no truck with the other side is a zero-sum game. Turkey, Jordan, and Qatar were playing mediators of sorts with Hamas on the hostage issue. Except for Qatar, the other two went silent about any kind of talks after the hospital attack.
The blame game over who fired the rocket meant nothing either in the face of Palestine's claim of 500 dead. The fact is that Palestinians in Gaza are the ones paying a heavy price.
Amidst all this, Iran is trying to unite 'Islamic and Arab nations'. Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi called on the Islamic and Arab world to sever diplomatic ties with Israel. On Tuesday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei said Islamic nations were "seriously angry" at the continued Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and warned that if they continued, these nations would "lose tolerance."
Back home in the US, protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war descended on the Capitol. And Biden's announcement of the $100 million aid package for Gaza and Israel has also drawn criticism.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also jumped into the mix terming the attack on the hospital a terrible catastrophe. Russia is also sending aid to Gaza via the Red Crescent.
Two UNSC resolutions on Gaza, the first by Russia and the second by Brazil, have been vetoed. On Wednesday, the US blocked Brazil's resolution calling for "humanitarian pauses" to deliver lifesaving aid to millions in Gaza on the grounds that it did not mention Israel's right of self-defense. Russia and the UK abstained from the vote.
So where does all this leave Palestinians in Gaza? And has Joe Biden's forced balancing act in giving arms to Israel and aid to Gaza left the issue hanging in balance? The jury is still out.
(Srishti Shanker is Senior News Editor, NDTV 24x7)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.