Delivering last-minute remarks from the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden said that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a six-week ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Gaza Strip that has been months in the making, cementing a major victory for the U.S. president just days before he leaves office. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden said that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a six-week cease-fire and hostage release deal in the Gaza Strip that has been months in the making, cementing a major victory for the U.S. president just days before he is set to leave office
  • Biden took to a podium in the White House's Cross Hall on Wednesday to deliver last-minute remarks on the significant development 
  • Biden said the deal agreed to on Wednesday by both sides of the 15-month-old war mirrored the three-phrase proposal he laid out in a speech at the White House in May
  • Biden noted that while the deal announced on Wednesday was “developed and negotiated” under his administration, the terms of it will be implemented by the next one, President-elect Donald Trump's

“I've worked in foreign policy for decades. This is one of the toughest negotiations I've ever experienced,” Biden said from a podium in the White House’s Cross Hall, where he was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

He credited the feat to the “pressure that Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States.”

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said final details were being ironed out, saying in a statement that it hoped "details will be finalized tonight."

Biden said the deal agreed to Wednesday by both sides in the 15-month-old war mirrored the three-phrase proposal he laid out in a speech at the White House in May. At the time, Biden said Israel already backed the proposal and the outlines of it were transmitted to Hamas by Qatar. But in the seven months since then, an agreement remained elusive. 

The first phase of the deal, which is expected to begin Sunday, will last six weeks and includes a “full and complete ceasefire” as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas of Gaza, Biden said. 

A number of those held hostage, particularly women, the elderly and the wounded, will be released from captivity by Hamas. In exchange, Israel will free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Biden stressed that American citizens will be among the hostages released in phase one. 

The first phase is also expected to include a “surge in humanitarian assistance” to those in the war-torn Gaza Strip. 

Details on exactly how many people are still being held hostage and how many will be returned are “forthcoming,” the president said. 

Over the six week pause in fighting, Biden also emphasized that Israel will be tasked with negotiating the transition to phase two of the proposal, which would include the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza and a “permanent end of the war.” 

“Let me say it again, a permanent end of the war,” Biden stressed, before warning that “there are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two.”

The president noted that if the six weeks of the first phase end without an agreement to move to the second, the ceasefire would continue as long as the negotiations continue. 

In the final phase, Biden said, the remains of any hostages killed in captivity will be returned to their families and “a major reconstruction plan for Gaza will begin.” 

Asked by reporters at the end of his remarks about the likelihood this agreement will hold and indeed be acted upon, Biden responded: “I’m confident.” 

Biden noted that while the deal announced on Wednesday was “developed and negotiated” under his administration, the terms of it will be implemented by the next one, Donald Trump. 

“These past few days, we've been speaking as one team,” Biden said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.