White House National Security communications adviser John Kirby said he is “confident” the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal will be implemented after 467 days of war and says there is “plenty of credit to go around.”
“We’re not focused too much on the credit,” Kirby told “The Story” on Wednesday. “As the president said, I mean, we approach this as one team, a team of Americans, to try to get Americans back home with their families. And that’s what matters. I think there’s plenty of credit to go around. And it’s not just here in the United States… Egypt, Qatar, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who made some courageous decisions throughout this negotiation, and there’s plenty of credit to go around to everybody.”
Kirby recognized President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff as a key figure in brokering the deal.
HOSTAGE DEAL SHOWS HAMAS TOOK TRUMP’S ‘HELL TO PAY’ THREAT SERIOUSLY
“We worked on this as one team, as the American people would expect us to do,” Biden’s national security communications adviser stated.
“The president made it clear to us on the national security team that we needed to make sure that the Trump team, in particular Mr. Witkoff, were part and parcel and fully invested in everything we were doing because they were going to own it when we left office,” Kirby revealed.
“Mr. Witkoff traveled to the region. He and Brett McGurk, our special coordinator for the Middle East, talked multiple times a day over the last week or so as we were getting down to the fine details and trying to get it over the finish line. Mr. Witkoff himself credited the work that he was able to enjoy by working with us.”
Kirby says the “bottom line” is “getting the deal, getting the hostages home, getting the war to end.”
“Both President-elect Trump and certainly President Biden shared that goal and made sure that their teams also shared that outcome,” he added.
BIDEN BALKS WHEN ASKED IF TRUMP DESERVED CREDIT FOR ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASE-FIRE DEAL: ‘IS THAT A JOKE?’
As of Wednesday, Kirby shared that he is “confident” that the deal will be implemented, though he acknowledged that there is still “hard work” ahead, following the ongoing conflict with Hamas since the Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
President-elect Donald Trump warned Hamas on Jan. 7 that “all hell will break out” if hostages are not returned by his inauguration.
The agreement is set to take effect on Jan. 19, just one day before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Kirby stated the “big hurdle” had been “overcome”, which involved finalizing the deal, getting it inked and getting it in place. “Hopefully, come this weekend, we’ll start to see some families reunited,” he said.
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