The Gaza peace talks that aren’t

US President Joe Biden’s months-long efforts to organize a Gaza war ceasefire and talks intended to secure a sustainable Middle East peace are stalled by a confusing tangle of disparate views between Israel and Hamas – and even within the American administration – about how negotiations should proceed.

In almost desperate tones, the Biden administration is appealing for talks to begin in Qatar, a Persian Gulf mini-state. With an eye on possible failure, US forces are also preparing for war.

Such uncertainty in a volatile moment in an explosive region reflects Washington’s confused diplomatic style, in which it laid out objectives while both warring parties refused to go along and insisted on promoting their own rival, incompatible goals.

Biden announced original objectives with much fanfare on May 31, when he outlined presumed outcomes in the future negotiations:

• First, to obtain a “full and complete” ceasefire, as well the exit of Israeli military forces from populated parts of the Gaza Strip and the release of women and elderly hostages held by Hamas.

• Then, humanitarian aid would flow into Gaza and residents could return to battered neighborhoods from which they had been driven by more than 10 months of warfare.

• Next, if Hamas follows up by releasing the rest of the hostages, a permanent “cessations of hostilities” would begin and all Israeli forces would leave the entire Gaza Strip.

• As a sweetener for the Palestinians after so much death and destruction, foreign countries would pay to rebuild civilian infrastructure, including thousands of destroyed residences in Gaza.

Biden also declared victory on behalf of Israel: “They’ve devastated Hamas forces,” he said, adding that, “at this point, Hamas no longer is capable