A major part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s transformational plan for the Middle East—more like a Hail Mary than a real plan—is to see Saudi Arabia and Israel normalize their relations. To make it happen, Washington would have to provide Riyadh, among other things, with a formal defense pact. Israel, per Saudi wishes, would have to take irrevocable steps to help create an independent Palestinian state.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) pushed the Biden administration over the weekend to get a mutual defense agreement signed with Saudi Arabia to help calm tensions in the Middle East.

Graham made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union,” during which they discussed Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Saudi Arabia. Blinken said late last week that he thinks Israel and Saudi Arabia can normalize relations even without a ceasefire in Gaza.

In the diplomatic manoeuvrings surrounding the conflict in Gaza, things are beginning to gather pace. Israel’s western allies are pressing the Israeli prime minister to accept the latest plan brokered by Egypt and Qatar, while the Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, are similarly exerting pressure on Hamas to soften its position. But Russia and China are hosting talks in Beijing between Hamas and Fatah which could destabilise everything.

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to go ahead with a long-promised assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, whatever the response by Hamas to the latest proposals for a halt to the fighting and a return of Israeli hostages.

Expectations that a ceasefire agreement could be in sight have grown in recent days following a renewed push led by Egypt to revive stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Gaza's ruling Palestinian Islamist group....

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Tuesday to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering from the almost 7-month-long war, just as cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas appear to be gaining steam.

The next 72 hours will be crucial to see which direction Israel goes in its war with Hamas. Either Hamas will agree to an extended ceasefire and a release of hostages or Israel is poised to begin its invasion of Rafah, the last terrorist stronghold of Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel Tuesday as part of his latest Middle East trip. During Blinken's time in Israel, Netanyahu announced that the Rafah invasion will occur "with or without a deal," as the ceasefire talks continue.

The Biden administration is pushing for a long-shot diplomatic deal in coming months that presses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a new commitment to Palestinian statehood in exchange for diplomatic recognition by Riyadh, U.S. and Saudi officials said.

As inducements to recognize Israel, the White House is offering Riyadh a more formal defense relationship with Washington, assistance in acquiring civil nuclear power and a renewed push for a Palestinian state—a package that U.S. officials say they are in the final stages of negotiating.

Editor’s note: This report has been updated to clarify the Saudi sovereign’s advisory panel position on giving funds to Jared Kushner’s firm.

Former Obama deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner engaged in a “level of corruption that we’ve just never seen” when talking about his firm’s recent investments overseas.