Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Hamas had so far refused to accept a temporary ceasefire extension under a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff.

A Hamas spokesman called the move “cheap blackmail” and a “coup” on the ceasefire agreement and urged mediators to get Israel to resume the supply of aid.

The Palestinian group wants phase two of the deal to go ahead as originally negotiated, with the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

On Friday night, Hamas said it would not agree to any extension of phase one without guarantees from US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators that phase two would eventually take place.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office said: “With the end of Phase 1 of the hostage deal, and in light of Hamas’s refusal to accept the Witkoff outline for continuing talks – to which Israel agreed – Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease.

“Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences.”

The Hamas spokesman said: “Netanyahu’s decision to stop aid going into Gaza once again shows the ugly face of the Israeli occupation… The international community must apply pressure on the Israeli government to stop starving our people.”

Late last night, Netanyahu’s office said Israel had agreed to a US proposal for the ceasefire to continue for about six weeks during the Muslim Ramadan and Jewish Passover periods.

If, at the end of this period, negotiations reached a dead end, Israel would reserve the right to go back to war.

US envoy Witkoff has not made his proposal public. According to Israel, it would begin with the release of half of all the remaining living and dead hostages.

Netanyahu’s office said Israel would immediately start negotiations if Hamas changed its position on the six-week ceasefire extension.

The first phase of the ceasefire that came into force on 19 January expired on Saturday.

It halted 15 months of fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military, allowing the release of 33 Israeli and five Thai hostages for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

But negotiations on phase two, including the release of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, have barely begun.

There are believed to be 24 hostages alive, with another 39 presumed to be dead.

Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage.

Israel responded with an air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, during which at least 48,365 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

After the last six living Israel hostages due to be released in this phase were freed, more than 600 Palestinian prisoners were due to be released by Israel in exchange – the biggest number so far to be freed in one go.

But that has now been delayed indefinitely by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with his demand that Hamas must stop what he called its “cynical use of hostages for propaganda purposes”. Hamas has in turn accused Israel of deliberately trying to disrupt the ceasefire agreement.

It’s the latest big bump in the road that’s intended ultimately to lead to a permanent end to hostilities and the start of rebuilding Gaza.

Israel complained about the chaotic scenes in one of the first handovers, saying the physical safety of the hostages had been put in jeopardy. Then, Israel said Hamas had broken the terms of the agreement by not releasing a female civilian hostage, Arbel Yehud.

In response, it delayed opening access for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the north of Gaza for 48 hours. That was resolved when Arbel Yehud was freed in an extra handover before the next scheduled for the following Saturday.

Hamas later accused Israel of not living up to its commitments to permit heavy machinery, tents and caravans into Gaza. It then said it would not carry out the next hostage handover as scheduled.

That prompted threats from both Netanyahu and the US President Donald Trump that all out war would resume in Gaza if the hostages weren’t freed as agreed. With the clock ticking down, Hamas agreed to release them.

And just in the past few days, the discovery that the body Hamas handed over on Thursday as that of Shiri Bibas turned out not to be her. That set off new anger and shock in Israel, where the images of Shiri trying to shield her two young children as they were abducted on 7 October, 2023, is seen as the most potent symbol of the horror of that day.

Netanyahu denounced Hamas for what he called a “cruel and evil violation” of the agreement. Once again, the ceasefire was kept on track only at the last moment by Hamas providing another body within a day that this time did indeed prove to be hers.

All these incidents have shown how fragile the ceasefire process remains. They may also have contributed to the fact talks on the second phase – due to start earlier this month – have not yet got under way. Time is running out, with the first phase due to end in a week’s time.

Hamas has offered to release the remaining hostages due to be freed in the second phase in one go, but only if Israel pulls all its forces out of Gaza and there is a permanent end to the war.

Israel has demanded the complete disarmament of Hamas, which it has so far rejected. The stage-managed ceremonies at each hostage handover, which Netanyahu has so strongly condemned, are intended to show it is still a force to be reckoned with in Gaza.

In Israel, voices on the right demand the government resumes its war against Hamas, while the families of the hostages – backed by much of Israel – say securing the release of the remaining hostages is what matters above and beyond all else.

Trump’s plan for Gaza has brought new uncertainty into the equation. The third phase of the ceasefire is meant to set Gaza on the path towards reconstruction and renewal.

Arab states are hurriedly trying to come up with a concrete alternative proposal in which Palestinians would continue to live in Gaza while it is rebuilt, rather than being removed from the enclave as envisaged in Trump’s plan.

The future governance of Gaza also remains a key sticking point, with Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries all so far appearing to have contradictory proposals.

These issues will require difficult negotiations, which will be conducted amid the constant risk of a return to war, for which some on both sides continue to advocate.

But for now, the mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US may have their work cut out just getting the first phase of the ceasefire over the line.

The three other bodies handed over have been identified as her sons, Ariel and Kfir, who would have been aged five and two, and Oded Lifshitz, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

But the fourth body was not Shiri nor any other hostage, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleging on Friday that Hamas “put the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin”.

Hamas has not yet responded to this nor the IDF claim that the boys “were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023”, according to intelligence and forensics.

Hamas had previously said the children and their mother were killed in an Israeli bombing in November 2023.

Israel demanded the return of Shiri’s body along with the other remaining hostages.

“We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages – both living and dead – and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement,” Netanyahu said.

The IDF posted on X that “during the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body.”

“This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it was “horrified and devastated by the news that their mother, Shiri, was not returned—despite the agreement and our desperate hopes”.

Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were aged 32, four and nine months when they were kidnapped during the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023. They have become a symbol for many in Israel and news of their deaths was met with an outpouring of grief.

The children’s father Yarden Bibas, 34, was released by Hamas on 1 February.

Israel has confirmed that the fourth body returned on Thursday was that of veteran peace activist, Oded Lifshitz.

The release of hostages’ bodies was agreed as part of the ceasefire deal which came into effect on 19 January, and Israel has confirmed it expects eight bodies will be handed over.

The two sides agreed to exchange 33 hostages for about 1,900 prisoners by the end of the first six weeks of the ceasefire.

Talks on progressing to the next phase of the deal – under which the remaining living hostages would be released and the war would end permanently – were due to start earlier this month but have not yet begun.

Twenty-eight hostages and more than 1,000 prisoners have so far been exchanged.

Sixty-six hostages taken on 7 October are still being held in Gaza. Three other hostages, taken more than a decade ago, are also being held. About half of all the hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive.

About 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed in the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and 251 others taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in response, which has killed at least 48,297 Palestinians – mainly civilians – according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Also on Thursday, three buses exploded in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, in what Israeli police said is a suspected terror attack.

Devices in two other buses failed to explode, they said, adding that “large police forces are at the scenes, searching for suspects”. No casualties have been reported.

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced he had ordered the IDF to carry out an “intensive operation against centers of terrorism” in the West Bank.

Following talks in Cairo, the Palestinian armed group said mediators from Egypt and Qatar had confirmed they would “remove obstacles”.

There was no response from Israel. But Egyptian and Qatari reports also said mediators had bridged the gaps between the two sides and both were committed to continue implementation.

On Tuesday, Israel said the ceasefire would end if Hamas did not return hostages by Saturday. Hamas had earlier said it was postponing releases over what it claimed were Israeli violations.

Hamas said these included a failure to allow in the agreed amounts of vital humanitarian aid, including tents and shelters, which Israel denied.

The group’s threat to derail the deal prompted US President Donald Trump to propose Israel cancel the agreement altogether and “let hell break out” unless “all of the hostages” were returned by Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he welcomed Trump’s demand and warned: “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon [10:00 GMT], the ceasefire will end and the [Israeli military] will resume intense fighting until the final defeat of Hamas.”

However, there were conflicting messages from Israeli officials about whether he was demanding the release of all 76 hostages still in Gaza – in line with Trump’s ultimatum – or just the three due to be freed this weekend.

On Wednesday, an Egyptian security source told the BBC that Egypt and Qatar were “intensifying their diplomatic efforts in an attempt to salvage the ceasefire agreement”, as Hamas’s leader for Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo to hold talks with Egypt’s intelligence chief and other officials.

On Thursday, Hamas put out a statement saying they focused on the need for all terms of the deal to be fulfilled, particularly regarding deliveries of caravans, tents, heavy construction equipment, medical supplies and fuel.

It added that the talks were “positive” and that the mediators had agreed to work to “remove obstacles and close gaps”.

“Accordingly, Hamas reaffirms its commitment to implementing the agreement as signed, including the exchange of prisoners according to the specified timeline.”

At the same time, Egyptian state-run Al Qahera TV reported that Egypt and Qatar had successfully “overcome obstacles” and that Israel and Hamas were committed to fully implementing the ceasefire deal.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV also said the negotiations had been successful and that mobile homes and heavy machinery would be allowed into Gaza on Thursday.

However, Israeli media then cited the Israeli prime minister’s office as calling the Al Jazeera report “fake news” and saying there was “no basis” to it.

An Israeli government spokesman later clarified the denial, writing on X: “There is no entry of caravans or heavy equipment into the Gaza Strip, and there is no co-ordination for this.”

The first phase of the ceasefire deal is supposed to last six weeks and see a total of 33 Israeli hostages exchanged for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza.

So far, 16 living Israeli hostages have been freed since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January. Hamas has also handed over five Thai hostages outside the terms of the deal.

The 17 other Israeli hostages due to be released during the first phase are two children, one woman, five men over the age of 50, and nine men under 50. They are supposed to be handed over in the next three weeks. Both sides have said eight of these hostages are dead, but only one has been named.

Negotiations for the ceasefire’s second phase – which should see the 43 remaining hostages released, a full Israeli withdrawal and a permanent ceasefire – have not yet begun.

The deal has also seen Israeli forces withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the north, and hundreds of aid lorries allowed into the territory each day.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 48,230 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza’s population has also been displaced multiple times, almost 70% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

Hundreds of Palestinians in cars and on carts laden with mattresses and other goods began returning to northern Gaza following the pull-out – often to scenes of utter destruction.

The Israeli withdrawal is in line with the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement of 19 January under which 21 Israeli hostages and 566 Palestinian prisoners have so far been freed.

By the end of the first stage of the ceasefire in three weeks’ time, 33 hostages and 1,900 prisoners are expected to have been freed. Israel says eight of the 33 are dead.

Hamas seized 251 hostages and killed about 1,200 people when it attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, triggering the Gaza war.

At least 47,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. About two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s attacks, the UN says.

About 700,000 residents of northern Gaza fled to southern areas at the start of the war, when the Israeli military issued mass evacuation orders before launching a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory.

Many of those displaced were subsequently forced to move multiple times after Israeli forces pushed into southern Gaza, too.

They were also prevented from returning to their homes through the Netzarim Corridor, stretching from the Gaza-Israel border to the Mediterranean Sea.

Israeli forces partially withdrew from the west of the corridor last month and the first Palestinians – pedestrians – were allowed to walk along the coastal Rashid Street as they crossed into northern Gaza.

Those on vehicles have to use Salah al-Din Street and undergo screening for weapons by US and Egyptian security contractors.

The Israel Defense Forces have not officially commented on Sunday’s withdrawal from the eastern part of the corridor, which will leave it in control of Gaza’s borders, but not the road that had cut it in half.

The Haaretz newspaper says the Hamas-run Gaza interior ministry has been urging people to “exercise caution and adhere to the existing movement guidelines for their safety”

The troop withdrawal comes as an Israeli delegation is expected to fly to Qatar which has been moderating talks between the two sides in the Gaza war.

The Israeli government has previously said the delegation will initially discuss “technical matters” regarding the first phase of the ceasefire deal, rather than the more challenging second phase which is meant to lead to a permanent ceasefire, the exchange of all remaining living hostages in Gaza for more Palestinian prisoners and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

That will require further direction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently on his way back from the US.

Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to meet US President Donald Trump since his return to the White House on 20 January.

During the trip, in the most dramatic shift in US policy regarding Gaza in decades, Trump called for the removal of the territory’s entire civilian population and the development of what he called “The Riviera of the Middle East”.

That suggestion, which would be a crime under international law, has been almost universally rejected, including by Arab states.

The Saudi foreign ministry said on Saturday that it would not accept “any infringement on the Palestinians’ unalienable rights, and any attempts at displacement,” accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing”.

Egypt has also rejected any idea of the removal of the Palestinian population and has said it is calling an emergency summit of the Arab League on 27 February to discuss what it called “serious” Palestinian developments.

Asked about Trump’s plan, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog told the BBC that it was time for new ideas from the US and Israel’s neighbours Egypt and Jordan – which the American leader wants to take in Gaza’s Palestinians.

“We’ll have to find the right way to make sure that what happened [7 October] will not recur again, meaning that Hamas will not rule Gaza any more,” Herzog told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

Among those released and tasting freedom for the first time in 22 years was 47-year-old Hussain Nassar, who was arrested in 2003 for taking part in the second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.

There to meet him were his daughters, 22-old Hedaya and Raghad, who’s 21. Both were dressed in the striking traditional red and black dresses from Nablus, their hometown.

The younger daughter had earlier told me that it was impossible to describe living for so long without her dad.

“This is the first time I will touch him. I will hug him. I cannot express my feelings.”

Almost shaking with the excitement of meeting her father, she said “the Israelis arrested him when my mum was pregnant with me. I feel like this is the first time I will know what it’s like to have a father!”

Among the 110 Palestinian prisoners released at this stage of what is still a fragile ceasefire, were several women and children – the youngest of them 15 years old.

Some of them were accused of relatively minor offences, others had not been convicted or formally charged.

But 21 prisoners convicted of the most serious offences, including murder, were not allowed by Israel to return home to the Palestinian Territories and were exiled to Egypt or neighbouring countries.

One senior figure who was not sent into exile, despite being convicted for his involvement in the deaths of several Israelis, was Zakaria Zubeidi.

The former commander in the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades was one of several detainees carried aloft by jubilant supporters through the streets near Ramallah’s civic centre.

It was a scene, like the earlier Hamas show of strength in Gaza, that will irk many Israelis and undoubtedly lead to renewed calls from some right-wing politicians for the war against Hamas in Gaza to resume after this initial six-week phase of the ceasefire is over.

For the governor of Ramallah and El Bireh, Dr Leila Abu Ghanam, this homecoming for so many former prisoners was an occasion to celebrate.

But she had mixed emotions as Israeli military operations intensify in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, and the Gaza ceasefire is still under strain.

“All Palestinians are happy about the release of the prisoners but we’re sad about what is happening in the provinces at this very moment. Mothers today, despite how happy they are for the release of their children, are also sad for those mothers who have lost their homes and children.”

Today was one of very few days, while covering this intractable conflict, that I’ve seen so many happy faces among both Palestinians and Israelis.

It has been a terrible, destructive war that has shattered so many lives.

Governor Ghanam accused the Israeli government of not being interested in peace. “But we don’t lose hope,” she said, smiling. “If we had lost hope, Palestinians would have ended 75 years ago.”

The next batch of prisoner releases in exchange for Israeli hostages should happen on Saturday.

• Ninety Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are due to be freed after the release of three Israeli captives held in Gaza under a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
• The ceasefire began at 09:15 GMT after a nearly three-hour delay during which Israeli attacks killed at least 19 Palestinians.
• Thousands of displaced Palestinians, meanwhile, have been returning to what remains of their homes in various areas of Gaza.
• Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 46,913 Palestinians and wounded 110,750 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 taken captive.
• The long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza has come into force after a last-minute delay, with displaced Palestinians beginning to return to the cities they fled
• One man, from Gaza City, tells reporters his home may have been “swept away” but he wants to return to his neighbourhood – even if to “set up a tent”
• The first three Israeli female hostages are expected to be freed later – Hamas has named them as 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher, dual British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, and 24-year-old Romi Gonen
• Up until the ceasefire began, Israel continued to carry out strikes on Gaza, killing 19 people, according to the Hamas-run civil defence agency
• Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 back to Gaza as hostages
• The attack triggered a massive Israeli offensive on Gaza, during which more than 46,800 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry

Israeli forces have been using tear gas on Palestinians outside Ofer Prison

This is an attempt by Israeli forces to push families and media back because they do not want any attention on the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The Israeli prison service released a statement days ago saying that they are going to be heavily involved in this release, more so than they were previously because they want to limit all expressions of joy among Palestinians who are getting released.

This prisoner release was a huge point of contention in the Israeli government because the far-right didn’t want to see any released at all.

So it’s not so shocking to see this tear gas being fired at people in the area because we saw similar scenes back in November of 2023 when the first and only other ceasefire deal took place.

The reason why the Israeli military is taking so long to release them is that they don’t want people on the street celebrating.

Palestinians wounded by Israeli forces outside Ofer Prison

At least seven people have been wounded after Israeli security personnel attacked people gathered near the military prison, inside which are the 90 Palestinian prisoners set to be released tonight.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society reports that the injuries, which its crews treated, were “minor”.

Sources say that Israeli forces deployed tear gas and rubber bullets against those gathered outside the prison, which is located near the Palestinian town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces surround East Jerusalem home of prisoner set for release

We  are receiving reports of Israeli army officers surrounding a home in occupied East Jerusalem that belongs to the family of Palestinian prisoner Qassem Jaafara, who is set to be released as part of the ceasefire deal.

Ninety Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released from Ofer Prison as part of the agreement.

Israeli doctors say the captives are in good health

Doctors have said that the captives are in good health, but as part of the plan to receive the captives back in Israel, there will be a minimum of a four-day stay at the hospital.

They’re going to be conducting several different psychological evaluations and medical exams to see exactly what kind of condition the captives are in.

The [Israeli] military had confirmed hours ago that they [the captives] crossed into Israeli territory and were being airlifted to the hospital.

It’s worth mentioning that since the ceasefire deal was announced Wednesday night, there was no word from Benjamin Netanyahu, no sort of public appearance, no public statement other than the fact that he wasn’t going to make a statement.

Benjamin Netanyahu finally released a statement last night after the security cabinet meeting was delayed and after the cabinet vote had also been delayed.

If you’re just joining us

Here are some of the main developments over the past day:

• A Red Cross delegation is in Ofer Prison, verifying the identity of the 90 Palestinian prisoners set to be released tonight.
• Hamas handed three Israeli captives to the Red Cross, which transferred them to Israeli forces who took them out of the Gaza Strip.
• Hamas’s military spokesperson, Abu Obeida, has given a televised speech, saying that Hamas is committed to the ceasefire deal, which he said could have been reached over a year ago if it had not been for Netanyahu’s “malicious ambitions”.
• Gaza’s Interior Ministry says in a statement that local security forces were reintroduced to the main streets of Gaza following the start of the ceasefire agreement today.

Ceasefire? Not in the West Bank’, says NGO monitoring settler attacks

Yes  Din, an Israeli organisation monitoring settler violence in the West Bank, has said dozens of attacks were reported today as Israeli settlers stormed into Palestinian villages and torched properties.

“Ceasefire? Not in the West Bank tonight,” the organisation said on X, in a reference to the Gaza deal.

The group said attacks took place in the village of Ein Siniya, where Palestinian homes were torched, as well as in Turmus Aya and along Route 60 near al-Lubban Asharqiya.

Separately, Al Jazeera Arabic and the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that a Palestinian minor from the town of Sebastia, north of Nablus, died of his wounds after being shot by settlers.

‘We will set up a tent and stay in our neighbourhood’

We reported earlier on the thousands of displaced Palestinians who’ve been pictured and filmed returning to the cities they fled during the 15-month war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

We’re now seeing footage of some of those people pausing to celebrate, often in big groups, as they are able to make the journey – despite the reality being they may have no physical home to return to.

Saleem Nabhan, a displaced man from Gaza City, is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying: “Our homes were swept away, so we will set up a tent and stay in our neighbourhood, so we can feel that we are back to our neighbourhood, to our home.”

In the southern city of Khan Younis, crowds are singing and chanting – guns have also been fired into the air.

At a White House briefing on Wednesday, he said he was “deeply satisfied this day has come” and called the negotiations some of the toughest of his career.

The agreement consists of three phases, Biden said, the first of which includes a “full and complete ceasefire” which will begin on 19 January – the day before he leaves office.

He said a still to be negotiated second phase of the agreement would bring a “permanent end to the war”, adding that he was confident the deal would hold.

Biden told reporters that the first phase would involve the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza, the release of hostages held by Hamas – including women, elderly and wounded prisoners – and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

“Soon the hostages will return home to their families,” he said, adding that during the first phase “Palestinians can also return to their neighbourhoods in all areas of Gaza.”

“There are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two, but the plan says if negotiations take longer than six weeks, the ceasefire will continue as long as the negotiations continue,” Biden said.

The president said phase two would involve the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, as well as any remaining Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza. The temporary ceasefire would become permanent at this stage, he said.

The third phase would include returning the remains of hostages who have been killed to their families and a “major reconstruction plan” for Gaza.

While Biden said his administration had been “speaking as one team” with the incoming administration of Donald Trump, the president emphasised his own role and that of his administration in closing the deal.

He said the framework for the agreement followed “the precise contours” of a plan he first introduced in May 2024.

And just as the news conference ended, the president was asked who should take credit for the deal – him or Trump. Biden turned back and said “is that a joke?” before walking away.

Trump, meanwhile, said on Truth Social that the “epic” agreement was only possible because he won November’s presidential election.

“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,” he wrote.

Despite the duelling messages, the two administrations worked in close co-ordination as the ceasefire agreement came into view in recent days.

Both Biden’s envoy Brett McGurk and Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, for example, were in Doha as the talks reached the finish line.

The deal, now that it is official, gives Biden the opportunity to end his presidency on a high note, achieving an agreement he has long sought and providing one final item to burnish his foreign policy legacy.

But with just days left in office it is too late for him to feel the benefits of the deal domestically.

A ceasefire agreement while he was still the Democratic candidate in the election would have been a boon for him, given he was facing serious criticism from within his own party over his seemingly unwavering support for Israel.

Trump, meanwhile, will take the oath of office on Monday without immediately having to face the challenge of ongoing warfare in the Middle East.

The president-elect may also have the opportunity to participate in emotional celebrations, as American hostages return to the US in the weeks ahead and are reunited with their families. These feel-good moments could help the new president start his second term on an upbeat note.

Trump could more fully enjoy a political boost from Middle East peace. But he will also inherit the obligations and risks that go along with implementing a complicated multi-part agreement.