Biden administration boasted about ‘peaceful’ Middle East just days before Israel was attacked | Politics

One yr in the past, nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan praised the Biden administration’s success at preserving the peace within the Middle East, just one week before the Oct. 7 terrorist assault on Israel.

“The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades” Sullivan stated throughout a Sept. 29, 2023, look on the Atlantic Festival. 

At the time, Sullivan pointed to a listing of optimistic developments within the Middle East, together with a truce in Yemen, a lower in Iranian assaults on U.S. troops, and a “stable” Iraq.

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National safety adviser Jake Sullivan gestures throughout a press convention on the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Aug. 29, 2024. (Adek Berry/AFP by way of Getty Images)

But just one week later, Iranian-backed Hamas launched a terrorist assault towards Israel, with the militant group firing rockets on the Jewish state whereas hundreds of militants breached the Gaza-Israel barrier and attacked Israeli civilians.

The assault resulted in over 1,100 deaths, over 250 folks taken hostage, and sparked the continued battle between Israel and the militant group.

The Biden administration has tried to grapple with the battle ever since, weighing the issues of some wings of the Democratic Party extra sympathetic to Palestinians whereas persevering with to point out assist for longtime ally Israel.

Yemeni supporters of the Houthi motion throughout a rally held in Sanaa on Sept. 27, 2024, in protest towards Israel's assaults on Lebanon and Gaza. (Abdallah Adel/AFP by way of Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, Iran has vowed retaliation for a number of Israeli strikes in Lebanon, one among which reportedly killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and unfold larger turmoil all through the area because the administration tried to name for a three-week cease-fire to go off a possible all-out battle.

Those tensions with Iran have precipitated Sullivan to backtrack on a few of that optimism from final yr, acknowledging fears over escalating tensions within the area whereas nonetheless expressing optimism about a possible decision to the virtually year-old battle.

An Israeli F-15 Eagle fighter jet flies over the northern metropolis of Haifa on Sept. 26, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP by way of Getty Images)

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“While the risk of escalation is real, we actually believe there is also a distinct avenue to getting to a cessation of hostilities and a durable solution that makes people on both sides of the border feel secure,” Sullivan stated final week, in keeping with a report in Reuters.

The White House didn't instantly reply to a Fox News Digital request for remark.