President Joe Biden's State Department acknowledged the importance of President-elect Donald Trump's team in securing a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller praised Trump and his team at a State Department news conference Wednesday.
“The involvement of President-elect Trump's team was critical in getting this deal over the line,” Miller said.
Miller added that engagement is critical because the agreement has multiple steps, which the Trump administration essentially must implement given Biden leaves office on Monday.
And this is very important. Because as I stand here today, it's clear that this administration's term is up in five days. And one of the things we always say about this agreement is that as we move from phase one to phase two, the United States, Egypt and Qatar are the guarantors of this agreement. And Egypt and Qatar will pressure Hamas to stay at the negotiating table and move from Phase 1 to Phase 2, and the US will stay at the negotiating table to get Israel past Phases 1 and 2. There will be pressure to do so.
Miller then said that envoys from both the Biden and incoming Trump administrations will be involved in negotiating the deal, as the Biden administration has reportedly authorized Steve Witkoff, who will be President Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, to lead negotiations. detailed the unusual nature of doing so.
“I don't know if it's unprecedented for envoys from the outgoing administration and the incoming administration to sit down at the same table and negotiate a ceasefire of this kind, but if it's unprecedented, it's certainly unusual,” Miller said. Ta.
“And, of course, we're grateful to the Trump team for working together on this ceasefire agreement. We think it's important that they have a seat at the table,” he added.
According to Israel's Haaretz newspaper, the Biden administration allowed Mr. Witkoff will lead important negotiations. His article “Analysis | Trump's Middle East envoy forced Netanyahu to accept Gaza plan, which he repeatedly rejected.” Haaretz Political correspondent Chaim Levinson reported on Monday that “Mr. Witkoff has forced Israel to accept a plan that Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected over the past six months.”
In a press conference in which he claimed credit for his administration, Biden said the deal was the same as the one he offered in May, confirming Levinson's reporting timeline and Witkoff's proposal that Netanyahu rejected. This suggests that the agreement was firmly established. And once again.
Biden spoke for the first time after praising administration officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who he said had “led this effort.” admitted that the Trump team was involved.
“I also want to note that although this agreement was developed and negotiated under my administration, most of its terms will be implemented by the next administration. “We've been talking about it,” he said.
