The president-elect assures that the parties “have shaken hands” and “are in the process of finalizing” the pact
Jan. 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, has affirmed that an agreement between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of those kidnapped during the attacks of October 7, 2023 is “very close”, amid the progress made in indirect negotiations in recent days.
“We are very close to achieving it,” he said during an interview with Newsmax. They have to achieve it. “If they don’t do it, there will be many problems, the likes of which they have not seen before,” he said, in an apparent warning to the Palestinian Islamist group.
Thus, he confirmed that the parties “have shaken hands” and that “they are in the process of finalizing it,” in reference to the agreement. Trump has pointed out that the pact could take place “perhaps at the end of this week”, although he has clarified that “it still has to happen.”
The Republican magnate, winner of the presidential elections held in November 2023, has lamented that “many people have died” in the conflict and has criticized that the hostages have been living in poor conditions in Gaza for “too long.”
“This would not have happened if I had been president,” he said, in a new criticism of the current US president, Joe Biden. “Iran had no money to give them, Iran was essentially ruined. Now (Tehran) has a lot of money, although they have suffered damage over the last few months,” he concluded.
Trump has thus made reference to the setbacks suffered by Iran due to the beheading of the leadership of Hamas and the Lebanese Shiite militia party Hezbollah due to Israel’s military offensives, in addition to the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in Syria by a offensive of jihadists and rebels.
Biden himself noted on Monday that an agreement between Israel and Hamas is “close” to being reached. “In the war between Israel and Hamas we are on the verge of (achieving) that the proposal I raised months ago finally bears fruit,” he argued.
Biden’s special envoys for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, and Trump’s, Steve Witkoff, are visiting the Middle East region and are maintaining contacts with the main actors with a view to reaching an agreement.
The Israeli Army launched an offensive against the enclave after the aforementioned attacks on October 7, 2023, which left some 1,200 dead and nearly 250 kidnapped. The Gazan authorities, controlled by Hamas, have reported nearly 46,600 deaths to date, in addition to more than 800 Palestinians killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem at the hands of Israeli forces or in attacks by settlers.
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