State Department spokesman Matthew Miller praised President-elect Donald Trump’s role in the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire agreement Wednesday, calling his efforts “absolutely critical.”
“When it comes to the involvement of President-elect Trump’s team, it has been absolutely critical in getting this deal over the line,” Miller said during one of his final State Department daily briefings Wednesday afternoon.
“I do not know if it’s unprecedented to have envoys from an outgoing and incoming administration sitting at the same table negotiating a cease-fire agreement of this kind, but it’s certainly unusual,” he continued.
“We of course thanked the Trump team for working with us on this ceasefire agreement. I think it’s important they were at the table and I think it shows that when Americans are willing to work together across partisan lines, as we were willing to do on this occasion, because it’s in the national interest of the United States, there’s a lot that we can get done,” Miller stated.
When a reporter asked President Joe Biden on Wednesday who gets more credit for the ceasefire deal, him or Trump, the president stopped in his tracks, asking, “is that a joke?”
Reporter asks about who get credit for this, “you or Trump?”
President Biden: “Is that a joke?” pic.twitter.com/7u6AMuNhMG
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 15, 2025
But some Israeli media and Arabs alike reportedly credit the incoming president for the deal rather than the outgoing one.
Trump’s top incoming envoy to the Middle East Steven Witkoff, who has been pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get a ceasefire done, flew to Israel on Saturday to drive the deal home. (RELATED: Benjamin Netanyahu Quietly Working To Win Trump Over Ahead Of Presidential Elections After Falling Out In 2020)
Witkoff did “more to sway the premier in a single sit-down than outgoing President Joe Biden did all year,” two Arab officials told the Times of Israel.
Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy “did more to sway Netanyahu in a single sit-down than outgoing President Joe Biden did all year…” https://t.co/Sbsn45Cw4s pic.twitter.com/GLz667VmG4
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 15, 2025
Trump lauded his own efforts in securing the agreement in a Wednesday afternoon post on Truth Social.
“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” Trump wrote.
The tentative truce between Israel and Hamas follows Israel’s 15-month military campaign in Hamas-occupied Gaza, a response to Hamas’s massacre of Israeli citizens in the October 7 terror attack.
The deal stipulates a six-week ceasefire for both sides. It will also see some of the 100 Israeli hostages returned home. The hostage releases will take place over the course of three phases, with the first phase seeing 33 women and children, elderly and wounded civilians in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian women and children, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Neither Israel, nor Hamas have confirmed the deal and it has yet to be ratified.
Netanyahu said the involved parties were still finalizing details late Wednesday afternoon, the AP reported.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
