Outgoing President Joe Biden announced in his farewell address to the nation that a ceasefire deal had been brokered between Israel and Hamas leaders. Advocates in New York City said it could have come sooner.
“After eight months of nonstop negotiation … by my administration, a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas, the elements of which I laid out in great detail in May of this year,” said Biden from the White House. “This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. That’s why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed, because that’s how it should be: working together as Americans.”
Biden’s administration helped facilitate the framework of the agreement in May, and it was approved by the United Nation (U.N.) Security Council.
Both sides agreed to stop fighting on Sunday, January 19, paving the way to free Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, reported the Associated Press (AP). Other terms in the ceasefire deal included returning displaced Palestinians to their homes, more aid for citizens on the Gaza strip, bodies of remaining hostages to be returned in exchange for a three- to five-year reconstruction plan, and a declaration of “sustainable calm.” The ceasefire agreement is supposed to be worked out in three phases.
Delicate negotiations between Israel, Hamas, and U.S., Egyptian, and Qatari leaders went into the weekend.
“For more than a year, since Hamas brutally attacked Israel on October 7, Hamas terrorists have mercilessly held American and Israeli hostages captive in Gaza,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “This long-overdue agreement will secure the release of many of those hostages, set the stage for others to come home, provide for Israel’s security, and ensure humanitarian assistance is [provided] to Palestinian civilians who have been in harm’s way. We will not rest until the remaining hostages return home, and lasting peace and security are realized for Israel, the Palestinian people, and the entire Middle East region.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the conflict has led to a spike of antisemitism, Islamophobia, hate-based crimes, and disruptive protests throughout the state. She hoped the ceasefire would urge all New Yorkers to “stand together in the face of hatred and intolerance, and to remember that what unites us is far stronger than what divides us.”
U.S. Rep Adriano Espaillat added that “this ceasefire deal, which includes returning 33 hostages home and with a surge of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians, will begin the end of 15 long months of war and suffering.”
However, to some organizations, the ceasefire could have been reached long ago if there were more political will. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR Action), a national Muslim political advocacy organization, blasted the Biden administration for repeatedly vetoing other drafts of a ceasefire.
“President Biden’s failure to act decisively earlier cost tens of thousands of lives,” said CAIR Action National Executive Director Basim Elkarra. “Moreover, the administration’s funding of this genocide with billions of dollars enabled continued bloodshed and eroded America’s standing in the world.”
The exchange of detainees and hostages is a welcome development, said CAIR Action, but emphasizes that it must lead to an end to Israel’s violence in Gaza.