Iran calls pending Gaza deal a defeat for Israel, as leaders worldwide welcome pact

From across the globe, nations hail ceasefire agreement, urge humanitarian aid to Palestinian enclave, look forward to seeing hostages go home

In this photo released by an official website, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a meeting in Tehran, Iran, December 11, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
In this photo released by an official website, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a meeting in Tehran, Iran, December 11, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

World figures hailed the announcement Wednesday of a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas, urging the sides to keep to the deal, free the hostages, and rush aid to Gazan civilians.

Amid expressions of relief and hopes for a permanent end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, many called for immediate aid relief to Gaza in official statements, broadcast remarks and online messages.

In the Middle East, there was praise for the deal mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar. Officials from all three countries on Wednesday confirmed the deal that, if implemented, would end the war that began on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led thousands of terrorists in an attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The terrorists also abducted 251 people of all ages who were taken as hostages to Gaza. Of those, 94 remain in captivity alongside four others held for a decade.

In Iran, the Revolutionary Guards hailed the ceasefire deal as a “victory” for Palestinians and a “defeat” for Israel.

“The end of the war and the imposition of a ceasefire… is a clear victory and a great victory for Palestine and a bigger defeat for the monstrous Zionist regime,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement.

On X, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Palestinian “resistance” and Iran-backed Axis of Resistance succeeded in forcing Israel to “retreat,” adding: “It will be written in books that there was a mob who once killed thousands of children & women in Gaza.”

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called on world powers to ensure the “sufficient and durable” delivery of aid to Gaza.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry thanked the mediating countries, and affirmed “the importance of building on this deal to resolve the basis of the conflict.”

United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed stressed “the importance that both Israel and Hamas adhere to the commitments made to end the suffering of the Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages.”

He said unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid was urgent.

Palestinians celebrate the announcement of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, January 15, 2025. (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

Iraq’s foreign ministry stressed the “need to immediately allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories” and “intensify international efforts to rebuild” areas damaged during Israel’s Gaza offensive.

A spokesman for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have fired missiles and drones at Israel in support of Gaza throughout the war, said: “We salute Gaza’s legendary and historic resilience in the face of Israel’s fiercest aggression against the oppressed Palestinian people.”

The South African government, which led a war crimes lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, said it “welcomes the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas after 15 months of Israel’s genocidal onslaught on Gaza after Hamas and other armed groups launched an attack on Israel.”

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hoped the agreement “will be beneficial for our region and for all humanity, particularly for our Palestinian brothers, and that it will open the way to lasting peace and stability.”

Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by terror group Hamas and taken into Gaza, take part in a demonstration in favor of a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 15, 2025. (Oded Balilty/AP)

The truce would take effect as early as Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, including many terrorists convicted of murder, after which the terms of a broader peace deal would be finalized. It has not yet been formally signed and is pending final approval by the Israeli cabinet and Hamas.

From Europe, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer celebrated the hostages who are set to return home and mourned the people killed in the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, and in captivity. He promised to surge humanitarian aid to war-weary civilians in Gaza.

“Our attention must turn to how we secure a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people – grounded in a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state,” he said in a statement.

“In these hours there is hope that the hostages will finally be released and the deaths in Gaza will come to an end,” said German Foreign Secretary Annalena Baerbock.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, said all the remaining hostages and the bodies of those who died must be returned.

“This ceasefire opens the door to a permanent end to the war and to the improvement of the poor humanitarian situation in Gaza,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote: “The agreement must be respected. The hostages, freed. The Gazans, rescued. A political solution must be found.”

People watch the live television broadcast of a press conference being addressed by Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani about a ceasefire deal, along a street in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on January 15, 2025. (BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo spoke of “tremendous relief for the hostages, for their families, and for the people of Gaza” while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hailed the agreement as “crucial to achieving regional stability.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her country “expects that all the hostages can finally return to their families” and saw an “opportunity to significantly increase humanitarian assistance” to Gaza civilians.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said, “Israel and Palestine must receive credible security guarantees, and the solution must be anchored regionally,” while Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said, “It is now crucial that the ceasefire alleviates the immense suffering of the civilian population in Gaza.”

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said he hoped the deal “will now receive the formal approval of the Israeli government.” Israel and Ireland had a diplomatic falling out over the war due to what Jerusalem saw as harsh Irish criticism of its military action in Gaza. Israel in December said it would close its embassy in Dublin in protest.

President of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen said the deal “brings hope to an entire region.”

“I warmly welcome the ceasefire and hostage release agreement in Gaza. Hostages will be reunited with their loved ones and humanitarian aid can reach civilians in Gaza,” she said.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular briefing, “We also sincerely hope that relevant parties will take the ceasefire in Gaza as an opportunity to promote the easing of regional tensions.”

People walking next to pictures of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, in Jerusalem, January 12, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

And Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “This agreement is a constructive step to peace and stability in the region. Today must mark the beginning of a new chapter for the Israeli and Palestinian people.

“Australia remains unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas’s atrocities on the 7th of October and of the ideology that drives this terrorist organization. There must be no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza.”

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