President Biden marked the long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas in remarks Sunday as the deal officially took effect, celebrating that it had “finally come to fruition.”
Mr. Biden said that as he spoke, hundreds of trucks carrying assistance for civilians were entering Gaza, saying that “after so much pain, destruction and loss of life, today the guns in Gaza have gone silent.”
“Three Israeli women, held against their will in the dark tunnels for 470 days,” Mr. Biden said of the three female hostages had been released to the custody of the Red Cross on Sunday morning, noting that four more women would be released in seven days, and three additional hostages every seven days thereafter, including at least two American citizens.
The pause in the fighting, which marks the second in the war that began with Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, came together after pressure from the Biden administration and incoming Trump administration. The hostages released Sunday who are the first of 33 hostages that Hamas is expected to free during the first phase of the deal.
Stephanie Scarbrough / AP
“Today’s ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages is a result of a principled and effective policy that we presided over for months,” Mr. Biden said. “And we got here without a wider war in the Middle East that many predicted. And now it falls to the next administration to help implement this deal.”
Mr. Biden announced the deal on Wednesday, after a week of intense negotiations mediated by Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt, outlining that Americans would be among the hostages released in the first phase of the deal, which he said would last six weeks.
The president, speaking from the White House Wednesday afternoon, said there was “no other way for this war to end than with a hostage deal,” noting that the negotiations were among the “toughest” he’s ever experienced and saying that he’s “deeply satisfied” that the deal had finally materialized.
“We’ve had many difficult days since Hamas began its terrible war,” Mr. Biden said Wednesday. “We’ve encountered road blocks and set back. But we’ve not given up. And now after more than 400 days of struggle, a day of success has arrived.”
The remarks came as Mr. Biden is visiting Charleston, South Carolina, Sunday on his final full day in office to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which falls on Monday, when President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president.
