15 weeks after the terrorist firm launched lethal attacks against the Jewish state and sparked a regional conflict, President Joe Biden welcomed a long-awaited peace and prisoner deal between Israel and Hamas.
Biden stated that the release of American victims may be a part of the initial stage of the agreement, which was negotiated with the assistance of the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, and that the six-week peace may be extended as Israel and Hamas continue to discuss a postconflict resolution.
As Israel begins to remove from Gaza, Hamas will release a number of victims, including women, as well as older and injured hostages. Israel will launch Israeli prisoners and provide humanitarian aid to Gaza in exchange for the victims.
A permanent end to the war will be put in place with the return of more hostages, including adult soldiers, as well as Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza before the next stage, which will bring the return of dead hostages to their families and a “major restoration plan” for Gaza to begin.
Although Biden acknowledged that President-elect Donald Trump will have to oversee the rest of the structure, as he did with the structure he had suggested in May 2024.
” I’d even note: This bargain was developed and negotiated under my leadership, but its conditions may be implemented, for the most part, by the next management”, he said. ” For these past few days, we’ve been speaking as one team”.
Before Biden, Trump released a statement outlining the “EPIC agreement contract,” warning Hamas that there would be “hell to paid” if a prisoner package wasn’t reached by his inauguration on Monday.
Trump credited his “historic success” during the 2024 votes as the reason for the long-stalled offer getting done with the help of his Middle East minister, Steve Witkoff.
Biden responded quickly when asked by a reporter whether Trump deserved payment for the package.
” Is that a pun”? he replied.
In a written speech made public before his handle, Biden emphasized how the agreement” will end the battle in Gaza, increase much-needed-humanitarian support to Israeli civilians, and return the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity.”
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It is the result of dogged and meticulous American diplomacy, Biden wrote, as well as the extreme pressure Hamas has been under and the altered regional equation following a ceasefire in Lebanon and the weakening of Iran.
” Even as we welcome this news, we remember all the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’s October 7th , attack, and the many innocent people killed in the war that followed”, he added. ” I am also thinking about the American families, three of whom are currently living as hostages in Gaza and four of whom are awaiting the return of their bodies after what has been the most horrible ordeal imaginable. We are determined to bring all of them home under this agreement.
