Will Gaza sink Joe Biden’s foreign policy legacy?

With Israel now focussing military efforts on Lebanon, the war in Gaza looks set to be remembered as the final nail in the coffin for Joe Biden’s foreign policy legacy.

The US president’s decision to step down from his bid for re-election in July has solidified a new reality for the White House and the broader Biden administration: the Democratic president will not be remembered for his stewardship of the Middle East in a positive light. With only four years in the presidency, Joe Biden will leave office this year having overseen a bloody withdrawal from Afghanistan that included the fall of Kabul’s democratic government and a return to Taliban rule. More than a dozen Americans died in the pullout and a reprisal US strike killed civilians.

It was an ugly moment early on in Biden’s presidency. Progressives vocally defended him, glad that America had finally ended its longest-running war, even without a perfect exit. Conservatives, including anti-Trumpers who joined the Democratic coalition, were furious at Biden for continuing the withdrawal his predecessor had begun. And everyone, regardless of political affiliation, was horrified by the images of terrified Afghan citizens plunging to their deaths while attempting to cling to departing US planes.

He’ll also leave the presidency without a definitive end in sight for the war in Ukraine. Still essentially a steep uphill battle for Ukraine, despite its pushes into Russian territory, Moscow’s assault hasn’t halted after two and a half years of intense fighting.

But Gaza is another issue entirely. Nearly a year into the conflict, the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories is a new type of conundrum for the Biden administration: one that has painted the