After 15 torturous months of fruitless talks, there is finally a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, with two American presidents taking credit — one on his way out, the other on his way in. Even before President Joe Biden announced the agreement, President-elect Donald Trump proclaimed it on Truth Social before he released a lengthy statement that said, in part, "This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November" and "We have achieved so much without even being in the White House." An hour and a half later, Biden said from the White House: "This deal was developed and negotiated under my administration, but its terms will be implemented, for the most part, by the next administration. And these past few days we've been speaking as one team." Asked how much credit he gave the Trump team, he replied, "I told my team to coordinate closely with the incoming team to make sure we're all speaking with the same voice, because that's what American presidents do." But collaboration apparently goes only so far. As Biden was leaving, a reporter shouted: "Who deserves credit for this, Mr. President? You or Trump?" Biden stopped in his tracks, turned, and said, cracking a smile, "Is that a joke?" and left. In fact, Trump did pressure Hamas to compromise when he threatened on multiple occasions that "there will be hell to pay" if Hamas didn't make a deal before he took office. That warning also pressured Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to finish the deal. Negotiators also credited Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, for resolving last-minute snags in the last few days. It was a dramatic finish: According to a senior administration official, U.S., Israeli and Qatari negotiators in Doha, Qatar — and the Hamas team in the same building downstairs — thought they'd finally sealed the deal at 3 a.m. Wednesday. But a few hours later, Hamas made new demands. After more haggling, it backed down, and it was done. Talks almost failed back on July 31, when Israel took out Ismail Haniyah, the Hamas negotiator, while he was in Tehran. Then, a month later, the negotiations came to a complete halt when American hostage Hersh Goldberg and five others were killed in a tunnel in Rafah on Aug. 31. What followed changed the balance of power in the region. Israel responded to Iran's missile attack, destroying its air defenses. Then, Israel killed Hezbollah's leaders in Lebanon, resulting in a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire there. Finally, Iran lost its other major ally, Syria, when Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed next door. With Iran severely weakened, Hamas was more willing to compromise. None of that would have happened without intensive, nonstop negotiations over 15 months by White House envoy Brett McGurk, 19 trips by CIA Director William Burns and 13 visits by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, each with stops in multiple countries. And McGurk now heads to Cairo to implement the deal and make sure the hostages start coming home. No matter who gets the credit. | 