‘The Guns in Gaza Have Gone Silent’: Biden Announces Completion of Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal
President Joe Biden addressed a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that stopped fighting in Gaza and secured the release of Israeli hostages on Sunday morning.
Speaking from South Carolina on his final full day in office, Biden addressed the release of some people who had been held captive since October 2023 – when Hamas militants massacred 1,200 Israelis.
Thousands of Palestinian civilians were killed in Israel’s response as troops and tanks moved into Gaza. Biden declared Sunday that the region had “gone silent” after 15 months of violence.
Biden Sunday morning three Israeli hostages were released by Hamas in keeping up with the deal:
The deal that I first put forward last May for the Middle East has finally come to fruition. The ceasefire has gone into effect in Gaza, and today, we’re seeing hostages being released, three Israeli women held against their will in the dark tunnels for 470 days. After so much pain, destruction, loss of life, today, the guns in Gaza have gone silent.
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I’ve worked in foreign policy for decades, and this is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve been part of. Many of you who have followed these negotiations will attest that the road to this deal has been not easy at all and a long road. But we’ve reached the point today because of the pressure Israel put on Hamas, backed by the United States. Some said my policy of firm support for Israel of 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.
Dozens of additional hostages – including some Americans –will be released in the coming days under the deal.
Watch above via The White House.