UK, France, Germany hail truce deal
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called news of the Israel-Hamas truce deal “long overdue”.
He said in a statement that the captives can now finally return to their families and said the ceasefire must allow “for a huge surge in humanitarian aid” to the Palestinians in Gaza.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the deal offered “immense relief” for Palestinians in Gaza and “hope” for Israeli captives and their families. “The agreement must be respected. The hostages freed. The Gazans rescued. A political solution must come,” he added on X.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also welcomed the deal.
“In these hours, there is hope that the hostages will finally be released and the deaths in Gaza will come to an end,” she said. “Everyone who bears responsibility should now ensure that this opportunity is seized.”
Countries in the Middle East react to Israel-Hamas deal
- Egypt‘s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for “the entry of urgent humanitarian aid” into Gaza and said the deal followed “strenuous efforts” by his country, Qatar and the US
- Turkiye‘s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the agreement “will be beneficial for our region and for all humanity, particularly for our Palestinian brothers, and that it will open the way to lasting peace and stability”.
- Jordan‘s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called on world powers to ensure the “sufficient and durable” delivery of aid to Gaza.
- Iraq‘s Foreign Ministry hailed the deal and stressed the “need to immediately allow humanitarian aid” into Gaza and “intensify international efforts to rebuild” areas damaged during 15 months of war.
- Saudi Arabia‘s Foreign Ministry stressed the need to adhere to the deal and called for the “complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the [Gaza] Strip and all other Palestinian and Arab territories and the return of the displaced to their areas”.
- UAE‘s Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed called for the unhindered delivery of aid and stressed “the importance that both Israel and Hamas adhere to the commitments made to end the suffering of the Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages”.
- The Gulf Cooperation Council said it hopes the truce in Gaza will contribute to the restoring of security, the delivery of aid and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes.
US reaction to the Gaza ceasefire deal
- Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, called a ceasefire “very good news for Israel, for America, for the Palestinian people, and particularly for the hostage families who have waited so long in agony”. It couldn’t have happened without “steadfast diplomacy and until the potency of Hamas was radically reduced”, he said.
- John Barrasso, the top Republican in the Senate, said the deal is showing the world that Trump is “coming into power in the United States, and we’re seeing changes around the world to reflect a new strength in America”.
- Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, called the agreement “long-overdue” and said it will secure the release of Israeli captives, provide for Israel’s security and ensure humanitarian aid is surged to Palestinian civilians.
- Samantha Power, administrator for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said the deal will “begin to provide relief to the Palestinian civilians who have suffered immensely over the course of this brutal conflict”. She said the current moment is one of “enormous possibility” and the US is committed to “surging life-saving assistance to those in need throughout Gaza”.
- Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, did not issue a statement, but retweeted updates about Israel’s continuing attacks on Gaza even after the deal’s announcement.
- Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said she was relieved that Israelis and Palestinians will be released as part of the deal, but “an urgent need remains: We must permanently end the genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza”.
‘Comic’ behaviour of Biden, Trump both claiming Gaza ceasefire achievement: Analyst
Rami Khouri, a distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut, said that it was almost comical to see Biden and Trump outbid each other to claim responsibility for the Gaza ceasefire deal, while their actual behaviours were “100 percent supporting the Israeli genocide”.
“Even in their announcements today they don’t really talk about the Palestinians as real people,” Khouri said, noting at the same time that US media was almost exclusively focused on the release of Israeli captives from Gaza as a result of the ceasefire.
“So we see in both the presidential behaviour and the acts of the Congress, and the performance of the mass media in the United States, a reaffirmation that this is not really about justice and equality for Israelis and Palestinians,” Khouri said.
“It’s about an assertion of American might and the fact the United States feels it can dictate what will happen in the region,” he said.
Khouri also noted that Israel’s military had killed dozens on Wednesday despite the ceasefire announcement and they will “keep killing people until Sunday”.
“This is their legacy,” he said. “They did the same thing in Lebanon before every ceasefire,” he added.
Still bombing and blowing up houses after the ceasefire in Lebanon...
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