With just hours left in his term, President Joe Biden on Sunday said that fighting in Gaza under a cease-fire deal between the Israeli military and the Hamas terrorist group has stopped, adding that two American citizens will be released soon.
Biden delivered a response to the deal going into effect earlier Sunday from Charleston, South Carolina, where he is spending his full final day in office.
At least two Americans will be released soon “in this first phase,” the president said. After that, he said, Hamas is expected to release captive Israeli soldiers and it should mark a “permanent end to the war.”
“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. He added that previous negotiations on the cease-fire deal were ”one of the toughest negotiations I’ve been part of.”
He also warned that the United States should not foster actions that will lead to a “wider war” in the Middle East.
Biden, accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden, visited Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston, South Carolina, to worship and speak on the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday is the federal holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) a key Biden ally, said the trip was Biden’s way of saying “thank you” to the state.
“Joe Biden is showing once again who he is by coming back to the state that really launched him to the presidency,” Clyburn said over the weekend in an interview with The Associated Press.
Biden delivered a televised farewell address to the nation on Wednesday.
Monday, Jan. 20, will be his final day in office as President-elect Donald Trump is due to be inaugurated in Washington. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath of office ceremony with Trump at midday.
Trump also told the broadcaster that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “just keep doing what you have to do.”
“Respect. The United States has to get respected again, and it has to get respected fast. But respect is the primary word that I use,” he said in the interview. “If they respect us, it will hold.”
Trump said that “it will not be good for Hamas ... or anyone.”
Hamas-led terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, launched a surprise attack inside Israel, killing around 1,200 Israeli and foreign civilians and capturing around 251 others. Israel responded by launching a bombing campaign and sent ground troops to the region later that month.
Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, had stressed that the conflict would end only if Hamas released all the hostages.
