Washington DC – United States (US) President Joe Biden welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Biden stated, “The region has fundamentally transformed.”
“After so much suffering, death, and loss of life, the guns in Gaza have now fallen silent,” Biden said in a statement delivered on his last day in office, as reported by AFP on Monday (January 20, 2025).
“The path to this agreement was by no means easy; it has been a long road,” he said, referring to year-long negotiations, just hours after the ceasefire began on Sunday (January 19) local time.
“But we have reached this point today because of the pressure applied by Israel on Hamas, backed by the United States,” Biden added.
The statement was made during Biden’s visit to South Carolina on his final day in office, with US President-elect Donald Trump set to succeed him starting Monday (January 20) local time, inheriting the complex task of helping ensure the ceasefire leads to lasting peace.
Defending his determination to support Israel amid criticism that it could drag the US into a broader war, Biden said he had weighed that possibility.
“But I concluded that abandoning the path I pursued would not have led us to the ceasefire we see today. Instead, it would have posed the risk of a broader war in the region that many feared,” he said.
“Now, the region has fundamentally transformed,” Biden stated.
The fighting in Gaza has occupied Biden’s administration since Hamas launched a deadly and shocking attack on Israel in October 2023.
In his statement, Biden did not address the main criticism of his administration’s support for Israel, with many Americans—shocked by the high death toll in Gaza—calling on Washington to rein in its close ally.
The ceasefire agreement reached last week, which began on Sunday (January 19) local time and is set to last for six weeks, calls for a cessation of hostilities, the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and the release of Hamas hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.