India Welcomes Israel-Hamas Ceasefire And Hostage Release Deal In Gaza

The MEA, in a statement, welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

File Photo of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. (PTI)

Israel-Hamas Ceasefire: India on Thursday welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas. The announcement on the deal comes after 15 months of conflict in Gaza. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs exuded hope that the ceasefire agreement will lead to a safe and sustained supply of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. 

"We welcome the announcement of the agreement for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza. We hope this will lead to a safe and sustained supply of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. We have consistently called for release of all hostages, ceasefire, and return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy," the MEA statement read.

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden announced that Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal. He further stated that the agreement will halt the fighting in Gaza. “Today (Wednesday), after many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal,” Biden announced.

The ceasefire deal was the last foreign policy accomplishment of his administration which ends on January 20. “This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity,” Biden said. Biden, 82, will be succeeded by Donald Trump, 78, as the 47th President of the United States, on January 20. Trump welcomed the deal.

“This epic ceasefire agreement could have only happened due to our historic victory in November, as it signalled to the entire world that my administration would seek peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans and our allies. I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones,” Trump said.

In his statement, Biden said he laid out the precise contours of this plan on May 31, 2024, after which it was endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council. 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 the weakening of Iran but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy. “My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done,” he said.

“Even as we welcome this news, we remember all the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’s October 7th attack and the many innocent people killed in the war that followed. It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin,” Biden said.

“I am also thinking of the American families, three of whom have living hostages in Gaza and four awaiting the return of remains after what has been the most horrible ordeal imaginable. Under this deal, we are determined to bring all of them home,” Biden said.