From the Liveblog of
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Biden says he looks forward to hostage deal being fully implemented
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Joe Biden says he “looks forward” to the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal being “fully implemented,” in his first remarks to reporters shortly after the first three released Israeli hostages crossed into Israeli territory.
“After so much pain, destruction and loss of life, today the guns have gone silent,” Biden says.
Biden says four Israeli women will be released next Saturday— something Israeli authorities had not yet confirmed — and that three hostages will be released each of the following four Saturdays, including two American citizens, until the completion of the 42-day phase one.
He appears to only be referring to those being released alive, which would then be 19 hostages of the 33 slated for release.
Israel does not yet know with certainty how many of the 33 hostages being released in the first phase are alive, but does believe that the vast majority of them are.
Biden says he was updated that the three hostages released moments ago “appear to be in good health.”
Biden recalls that on day 16 of the first phase, indirect talks between Israel and Hamas regarding the terms of phase two of the deal — when the remaining living hostages are slated for release — will commence.
The second phase will be a “permanent end of the war without Hamas in power or able to threaten Israel,” he stresses.
When asked after his remarks whether he’s concerned about Hamas reconstituting in Gaza, Biden replies, “No.”
Biden notes that the ceasefire allows for the entry of several hundred trucks of humanitarian aid every single day, including Sunday.
He reiterates that the deal was the result of the framework he unveiled in a May 31 speech, which went on to receive broad international backing, including from the UN Security Council.
