“I’m announcing that a cease-fire and hostage agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said at the White House. The agreement was reached after 15 months of suffering, he said, after which a wave of humanitarian aid would follow in Gaza.
“The fighting in Gaza will stop, and the hostages will soon return home to their families,” Biden said.
The deal was reached after months of negotiations by the Biden administration, he noted, and thanked his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and other officials.
However, the terms of the agreement will mostly be implemented by the new Trump administration, the current US president said.
“We’ve been talking as a team for the past few days,” he said.
Asked by a reporter whether he or Trump deserved more credit for getting the deal done, Biden replied, “Are you kidding me?”
Trump announced on social media that the deal would not have happened if he had not been elected.
“This LEGENDARY cease-fire agreement was only possible as a result of our historic victory in November because it signaled to the world that my administration will seek peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans and our allies,” he wrote.
Biden did not provide specifics beyond the general outlines of the deal that are already known, but indicated that he believed the deal could lay the groundwork for an independent Palestinian state.
“For the Palestinian people, a credible path to their own state. And for the region, the future of normalization, integration of Israel and all its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia,” he said.
In a separate statement, the White House quoted Biden as saying that “today, after many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire and hostage agreement.
This deal will end the fighting in Gaza, increase much-needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians, and reunite hostages with their families after more than 15 months of captivity,” the White House said in a statement.
(Vijesti.ba / HINA)
