US President Joe Biden, flanked by US Vice President Kamala Harris and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaks after negotiators reached a phased deal for a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, during remarks at the White House in Washington, US, Jan 15, 2025. [Photo/Agencies]
WASHINGTON -- US President Joe Biden formally announced Wednesday that a deal between Israel and Hamas was reached, which would temporarily pause the fight in Gaza and see the phased release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel.
"It's a very good afternoon, because at long last I can announce a ceasefire and a conflict that began with Hezbollah's brutal massacre on October the 7th," Biden said in remarks delivered from the White House. He misspoke the military group while he meant it was Hamas that launched the attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023.
Under the deal, which shortly before Biden's speech was officially announced by the Qatari prime minister in Doha — where the negotiations had been taking place — Hamas and its allied militant groups would release 33 hostages during the phase one, 42-day ceasefire with Israel. Biden confirmed that "Americans will be part of that hostage release on phase one as well."
In return, hundreds of Palestinian hostages currently being detained by Israel would be freed, according to Biden. "Palestinians can also return to their neighborhoods in all the areas of Gaza and the surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza will begin," the president said.
Following the first phase will be a phase two deal to be negotiated by Israel and Hamas during and, if necessary, beyond the six-week ceasefire that would lead to a permanent ceasefire between the warring sides, Biden said.
"During the next six weeks, Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get phase two, which is a permanent end of the war. Let me say it again: A permanent end of the war," said the president, who was flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the speech.
"There are a number of details to negotiate, to move from phase one to phase two. But the plan says if negotiations take longer than six weeks, the cease fire will continue as long as the negotiations continue," he added.
Finally, "any final remains of hostages who have been killed will be returned to their families, and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza will begin" in what could potentially be a third phase of the deal, Biden said.
Prior to Biden's speech, his successor, President-elect Donald Trump, preemptively weighed in on news of the deal being reached, claiming his own team's victory over the outcome.
"This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, referring to his win in the US presidential election.
"With this deal in place, my National Security team, through the efforts of Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven," Trump said, adding that his team will "build upon the momentum of this ceasefire to further expand the Historic Abraham Accords."
Mediated by the United States during Trump's first term in the White House, the Abraham Accords are a series of bilateral agreements on the normalization of relations between Israel and several Arab nations. Arab nations that are signatories of the Abraham Accords include Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan.
At the conclusion of his speech, Biden was asked by a shouting reporter how much credit he would give the Trump team for the ceasefire-hostage deal.
"The exact framework of the deal (is what) I proposed back in May, exact. And we got the world to endorse it," Biden said in reply.
"I knew this deal would have to be implemented by the next team, so I told my team to coordinate closely with the incoming team to make sure we're all speaking with the same voice, because that's what American presidents do," Biden said.
