Washington:US President Joe Biden on Sunday said that "the guns in Gaza have gone silent" under a ceasefire deal he outlined in May and hostages are being released as he underlined that now it falls to the next administration to help implement this agreement.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began Sunday. Hours after the ceasefire began, Hamas freed three female hostages. “We got here without a wider war in the Middle East than many predicted. Now it falls to the next administration to help implement this deal,” said Biden, who would hand over the presidency to Donald Trump on Monday.
“Success is going to require persistence and continuing support for our friends in the region and the belief in diplomacy backed by deterrence,” Biden said in his remarks. Trump, 78, will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States Monday. He arrived here Saturday evening from Mar-a-Lago along with his family members.
After attending fireworks at his Golf Resort in Sterling, Virginia, and attending receptions, Trump spent his night at Blair House, the official guest House of the US President. He moves into the White House on Monday afternoon.
In probably his last speech on the Gaza issue as the President, Biden said the ceasefire has gone into effect in Gaza. “And today we're seeing hostages being released."
"Four more women will be released in seven days. Three additional hostages every seven days thereafter, including at least two American citizens in this first phase. We pray for them and their families. They're going to have a long recovery ahead,” he said.
“By the 16th day of the deal, talks will begin in the second phase. This phase includes the release of Israeli soldiers and a permanent end of the war without Hamas in power or able to threaten Israel. Hundreds of trucks are entering Gaza as I speak,” he said, noting that the trucks are carrying assistance for civilians who suffered enormously from the war.
"After so much pain, destruction, and loss of life, today the guns in Gaza have gone silent,” he said, adding that this was the deal that he had outlined for the world back on May 31.
Biden said this is the toughest negotiations that he has been part of. “But we have reached this point today because of the pressure Israel built on Hamas backed by the United States,” he said.
“Some said my policy of affirmed support for Israel was relentlessly pursuing diplomacy, risked drawing America into a wider war in the region. I listened to those voices, many of whom I respected a great deal, but I concluded abandoning the course I was on would not have led us to the ceasefire we're seeing today, but instead it would have risked a wider war in the region that so many feared. Now, the region has been fundamentally transformed,” he added.
He said the longtime leader of Hamas is dead. Hamas sponsors in the Middle East have been badly weakened by Israel, backed by the United States. Hezbollah, one of Hamas' biggest backers, has been significantly weakened on the battlefield, and its leadership was destroyed, he added.
“Even as we worked for diplomatic solutions in Lebanon, we provided ongoing assistance and supported Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah, including its efforts to take out the terror infrastructure along the border between Israel and Lebanon," Biden said.
He said Israel's campaign was extremely successful, so much so that by the end of November, the United States had brokered a ceasefire in Lebanon. "Hezbollah did what it said it would never do. It cut its deal and abandoned Hamas," Biden added.
