“I can announce a ceasefire and an agreement on hostage taking between Israel and Hamas”Biden said at the White House. The agreement was reached after 15 months of suffering, he said, and will be followed by a increased humanitarian aid in Gaza. Under that line, the Democrat pointed out that “The fighting in Gaza will stop and the hostages will soon return home to their families.”
Joe Biden’s statements about the agreement
Biden stressed that “while we welcome this news,” they remember “all the families whose loved ones were killed in the Hamas attack on October 7 and the many innocent people who died in the war that followed.”
“I also think of the American families, three of whom hold live hostages in Gaza and four of whom are waiting for their remains to be returned after what has been the most horrific experience imaginable. With this agreement, we are determined to bring them all home“he added.
“It is long overdue to end the fighting and begin the work of building peace and security,” Biden added, noting that he will soon speak publicly about the agreement. In that sense he highlighted: “My diplomacy never ceased in its efforts to achieve this“.
Finally, he detailed: “It is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changes in the regional equation after the ceasefire in Lebanon and the weakening of Iranbut also of tireless and intense American diplomacy.
In a separate statement, the White House quoted Biden as saying: “Today, after many months of intense diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage agreement. “This agreement will stop the fighting in Gaza, increase much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity.”
War in Gaza: ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas
Thus, a new path of peace is opened to a conflict that has been open for more than a year. The agreement comes after months of on-again, off-again negotiations brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the support of USA, and came just before the January 20 inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. He himself maintained: “We have a deal, the hostages will be released shortly.”
Thousands of people are celebrating in the streets of Gaza right now as the debated draft was approved. Israeli troops invaded Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and stormed Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and kidnapping more than 250 foreign and Israeli hostages.
Israel and the Hamas organization were negotiating until yesterday and the draft at that time supported the stoppage of fighting for 42 days – as part of a first phase – and both Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners will be released. In this first phase, Israeli troops withdrew to the limits of Gaza and Many Palestinians could return to what remains of their homes as the flow of aid increases.
The first phase of the truce agreement in the Gaza Strip provides an exchange of 33 Israeli hostages against 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. It would begin with the release of women and children and “if the first phase is carried out (…) negotiations will begin on a second to free the rest of the Israeli captives,” according to what they say in the Times of Israel.
Source: Ambito
