By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire-and-hostage deal that will end fighting in Gaza, and added it was reached by working alongside the incoming Donald Trump administration.
“I can announce a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said at the White House. The deal was reached after 15 months of suffering, he said, and will be followed by a surge of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
“Fighting in Gaza will stop, and soon the hostages return home to their families,” Biden said.
The deal was reached after months of negotiations by the Biden administration, Biden noted as he thanked his national security adviser Jake Sullivan and other officials.
However, its terms will be mostly implemented by the incoming Trump administration, Biden said.
“In these past few days, we have been speaking as one team,” he said.
Asked by a reporter whether he or Trump deserved more credit for getting the deal done, Biden quipped, “Is that a joke?”
Trump, in a statement on social media, said the deal would not have happened if he had not been elected.
“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” he wrote.
Biden did not provide specifics outside the broad outlines of the deal that were already known, but indicated he thought it could set the stage for an independent Palestinian state.
“For the Palestinian people, a credible, credible pathway to a state of their own. And for the region, a 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: “Today, after many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal. This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity.”
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Franklin Paul, Heather Timmons, Deepa Babington and Rod Nickel)
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