US President Joe Biden Wednesday said his administration and incoming president Donald Trump‘s team are on the same team as far as negotiations on Gaza deal is concerned. Explaining the three-phase deal, Bidensaid that during the next six weeks of the first phase of the ceasefire, Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements for phase two – “a permanent end to the war”.
The US president said that there are a “number of details” to negotiate to move from the first and second phase. If negotiations take longer than six weeks, then the ceasefire will continue as long as the negotiations continue, he said. Phase two will allow for an exchange for the release of all the remaining living hostages, including male soldiers. The second phase will also involve all remaining Israeli forces to be withdrawn from Gaza, and for the temporary ceasefire to become permanent, he said. In phase three, any final remains of the hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families.
On being asked about how much credit he would give to the incoming Donald Trump administration, Biden said this is the exact framework of the deal “I proposed back in May. Exact”. But Biden added that since the deal will unfold in the coming administration, he told his team to coordinate closely with the incoming Trump team to make sure “we’re all speaking with the same voice,e because that’s what American presidents do.”
“In the past few days, we have been speaking as one team,” Biden said.
Who gets the credit of Israel-Hamas deal? ‘Is that a joke?’
“I laid out the precise contours of this plan on May 31, 2024, after which it was endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council. It is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran — but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy. My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done,” Biden said in his statement.
As Biden began to leave the room after the conference, a reporter called out: ““Who deserves credit for this Mr President, you or Trump?” Biden turned around and replied: “Is that a joke?”
Donald Trump takes credit, says won’t have been possible without his win
Calling the ceasefire agreement EPIC, Donald Trump said it could have been possible only as a result of his ‘historic’ victory in November “as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
