Which President will get credit for a Gaza cease-fire?
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Protesters on Tuesday Tel Aviv, called for the return of hostages held by Hamas. The finalizing of the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas owes much to the impending transfer of power from President Biden to President-elect Donald Trump, sparking a pointed debate over who deserves the credit.
Though the emerging deal is the product of months of on-and-off talks, the approaching change of U.S. administration has served as an unofficial deadline for cementing the accord, current and former U.S. officials say.
“WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!" Trump announced Wednesday on Truth Social, his social-media platform.
Biden will likely address the cease-fire in a previously scheduled Oval Office speech scheduled for Wednesday night, described by the White House as a farewell address. “There’s nothing like the end of a presidency to say this is a real deadline and if we’re gonna do anything we better do it now, because God knows what happens after the 20th," said John Bolton, who served as national security adviser during Trump’s first term as president. Israel, for its part, is increasingly focused on reining in Iran’s nuclear program and well aware that both Biden and Trump support sealing the Gaza deal over the next week.
The scramble over which American president deserves the plaudits has begun in Washington and will only intensify as the initial release of nearly three dozen hostages and a 42-day cease-fire takes place. Biden’s aides say the accord was based on a framework their boss outlined last May and which he and his aides have pursued for months. On Tuesday, Biden kept up the effort, speaking with Egyptian President
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