“At long last, I can announce a ceasefire and hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said Wednesday at the White House.

Biden confirmed that U.S. hostages would be released as part of the first phase of the deal, negotiated with the help of the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, and that the six-week ceasefire could be prolonged as discussions continue between Israel and Hamas about a postconflict compromise.

The first phase of the deal includes Hamas releasing a number of hostages, including women, in addition to older and wounded hostages, as Israel starts to withdraw from Gaza. In exchange for the hostages, Israel will release Palestinian prisoners and send humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The second phase will include a permanent end to the war, incorporating the exchange of more living hostages, such as male soldiers, and Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza before the third phase, in which dead hostages will be returned to their families and a “major reconstruction plan” for Gaza will start.

Although Biden took credit for the structure of the deal, which he proposed in May 2024, he acknowledged that President-elect Donald Trump will have to manage the rest of the arrangement.

“I’d also note: This deal was developed and negotiated under my administration, but its terms will be implemented, for the most part, by the next administration,” he said. “For these past few days, we’ve been speaking as one team.”

Trump, who warned Hamas that there would be “hell to pay” if a hostage deal was not reached by his inauguration on Monday, put out a statement before Biden announcing the “EPIC ceasefire agreement.”

Trump credited his “historic victory” during the 2024 elections as the reason for the long-stalled deal getting done with the support of his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.

When asked by a reporter after his remarks whether Trump deserved credit for the deal, Biden provided a short response.

“Is that a joke?” he replied.

In a written statement circulated before his address, Biden underscored how the deal “will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much needed-humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity.”

“It is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran — but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy,” Biden wrote.

“Even as we welcome this news, we remember all the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’s October 7^th attack, and the many innocent people killed in the war that followed,” he added. “I am also if thinking of the American families, three of whom have living hostages in Gaza and four awaiting return of remains after what has been the most horrible ordeal imaginable. Under this deal, we are determined to bring all of them home.”