US President Joe Biden spoke on Friday from Nantucket, Massachusetts, following the release of 13 hostages who were held by Hamas in Gaza since the group’s attack on Israel on October 7.
The President said that the US, along with Qatar, Egypt and Israel, will do everything in its power to ensure the full aspect of the deal is implemented over the coming days.
“It’s only a start, but it has gone well,” said Biden of the first phase of the release. “Earlier this morning, 13 Israeli hostages were released, including an elderly woman, a grandmother, mothers with their young children, some under the age of 16 years old. Over the next few days, we expect that dozens of hostages will be returned to their families.”
“The teddy bears waiting to greet those [released] children at the hospital are a stark reminder of the trauma these children have been through and at such a very young age,” he added, noting that he and his wife Jill are “keeping them all in our prayers today.”
"From the moment Hamas kidnapped these people, I along with my team have worked around the clock to secure their release. I've spoken repeatedly with the Emir of Qatar, President Al-Sisi of Egypt and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, to help secure this deal," he stated.
He reiterated that the US would maintain its commitment to the release of hostages, saying, "We will not stop until we get the hostages brought home and an answer to their whereabouts."
Biden also said that Hamas will not be able to use humanitarian aid that will be brought to Gaza in the coming days, during the ceasefire.
"These trucks carry food and medicine as well as fuel and cooking gas. The fuel will be used not only to power the trucks delivering these life-saving supplies, but for desalinization, for water wells for hospitals and for bakeries," said the President.
Asked when the first American hostages will be released, as there were no US citizens in Friday’s batch, he replied, "We don't know when that will occur, but we're gonna be expecting it to occur."
Biden said he expects the list of hostages to be released in the second phase on Saturday to be made available by Hamas “within the next hour”.
Asked whether he thinks the truce could extend further, which would allow for the release of additional hostages, the President replied, “the chances are real.”
Biden also reiterated his call for a renewed peace process aimed at a “two-state solution”.
“It's more important now than ever, as Hamas unleashed this terrorist attack, because they fear nothing more than Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace,” he said.
"To continue down the path of terror and violence and killing war is to give Hamas what they seek," Biden added.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)