THE PRESIDENT: Hello, my friends. This will be quick because I have to be downstairs, but thank you very much for coming.
This morning, the agreement on the Middle East that I first put forward last May finally came to fruition.
A ceasefire has been put in place in Gaza and today we see the release of hostages - three Israeli women who were held against their will for 470 days in dark tunnels. Four more women will be released in seven days, then every seven days thereafter three more hostages, including at least two American citizens, in this first phase.
We pray for them and their families, that they - they - will have a long recovery.
On the sixteenth day of the agreement, the second phase of talks will begin.
This phase involves the release of Israeli soldiers and a permanent end to the war without Hamas being in power or being able to th-threat Israel.
Hundreds of trucks are entering Gaza as I speak. They are carrying aid for civilians who are suffering immensely from the war that Hamas launched on 7 October 2023, almost 15 months ago. Today alone, we expect several hundred trucks to enter the Gaza Strip as I-probably as I speak.
And today, after so much pain, destruction and loss of life, the guns have fallen silent in Gaza.
This was the agreement I outlined to the world on 31 May - many of you reported on it then. The people of the world, including the UN Security Council, unanimously endorsed this agreement. And I drafted - in coordination with - I drafted it in coordination with Egypt, Qatar and Israel.
I have worked in foreign policy for decades, and this is one of the most difficult negotiations I have been involved in.
Many of you who have been following these negotiations will confirm that the road to this agreement has not been easy or long at all. But we have reached this point today thanks to the pressure that Israel has put on Hamas and that the United States has supported.
Some have said that my policy of steadfast support for Israel relentlessly pursues diplomacy and risks drawing America into a broader war in the region.
I listened to these voices, many of which I respected very much. But I came to the conclusion that abandoning the course I advocated would not lead us to the ceasefire we are witnessing today, but would instead risk the wider war in the region that many feared.
Now the region has fundamentally changed.
Longtime Hamas leader Sinwar is dead. Hamas' sponsors in the Middle East have been severely weakened by Israel, backed by the United States.
Hezbollah, one of Hamas's biggest sponsors, was severely weakened on the battlefield and its leadership was destroyed.
While we have sought a diplomatic solution in Lebanon, we have provided continued assistance and support to Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah, including its efforts to dismantle terrorist infrastructure along the Israel-Lebanon border.
The Israeli campaign has been extremely successful. So much so that the United States brokered a ceasefire in Lebanon at the end of November.
Hezbollah has done what it said it would never do: It broke its agreement and left Hamas.
And today there is finally a new president and prime minister in Lebanon, both of whom support a sovereign Lebanon without Hezbollah running the show or playing any role in it.
The Assad regime in neighbouring Syria is gone, depriving Iran of free access to Lebanon.
Iran is in its weakest position in decades after the U.S. military helped defend Israel from Iranian missiles and supported Israel's military response inside Iran.
Just look across the region.
There is an opportunity for a future in Lebanon without Hezbollah's influence. In Syria, a future without Assad's tyranny. For the Palestinian people, a credible path to their own state. And for the region and the future of normalisation and integration of Israel with all its Arab neighbours, including Saudi Arabia, with whom I have spoken.
You know, we have had many difficult days since Hamas started this terrible war. We have encountered obstacles and setbacks, but we have not given up.
And a special thanks to my team, especially Brett McGurk, who many of you know, who spent weeks and months working around the clock to get this deal done, many - many of those weeks and months out of the country.
Today's ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages is the result of a principled and effective policy that we have presided over for several months. And we have achieved it without the wider war in the Middle East that many predicted.
And now it's up to the next administration to help implement this agreement.
I was pleased to see that our teams have spoken with one voice in recent days. It was necessary, effective and unprecedented. However, success will require persistence and the continued support of our friends in the region and a belief in diplomacy backed by deterrence.
So when we reflect on the news from Gaza today, we also remember all the victims of this war. We are aware that the quest for lasting peace, while never easy or quick, must always be our mission.
Thank you all for listening to us. May God bless you all. And may God protect our soldiers. I look forward to seeing this agreement fully implemented.
And I apologize for not taking any questions right now, because I'm waiting - there's a whole assembly waiting for me, and I'm sure I'll have a chance to talk to you for the rest of the day.
Thank you very much.
Question: Can you say something about the status of the hostages who have been released today and others who are yet to be released?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I've just received a phone call that the three have been released into Gaza from the hands of their captors and they appear to be in good health, but it's too early to tell.
Thank you. Thank you.
Question: Sir, do you have any concerns about Hamas regrouping?
THE PRESIDENT: No.
Question: Will you stay involved in the deal as it progresses?
THE PRESIDENT: No way out. I'm proud of the deal.
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