Both Biden and Trump seek credit for ceasefire-hostages deal between Israel, Hamas

The ceasefire and hostage release deal announced Wednesday between Israel and Hamas marks a major political and personal victory for President Joe Biden in his final days in office.

"It's a very good afternoon," Biden said as he approached the podium in the Cross Hall of the White House to talk about the agreement, which comes after a devastating 15-month conflict that has subsumed the Middle East.

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Biden was flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he laid out the work he and his administration's done to get to this point.

"The elements of this deal were what I laid out in detail this past May, which was embraced by countries around the world and endorsed overwhelmingly by the UN Security Council," Biden said.

Biden, whose career in politics spans five decades, said the negotiations he was personally involved in for more than a year were the "toughest" he'd ever experienced.

But President-elect Donald Trump is also seeking credit and was first to release a statement on the deal.

RELATED: What's next now that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a deal?

"This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies," Trump wrote on his social media platform as news broke earlier Wednesday.

Trump had previously threatened "all hell will break out" if a deal wasn't struck by the time he was sworn into office. "It will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone," Trump warned.

Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, was in the region with Biden's team to get the deal done, according to a senior administration official.

Witkoff told Israeli news outlet N12 on Wednesday that the Israel-Hamas deal was achieved because of the help of many and demonstrates the success of what he called Trump's policy of peace through strength.

Biden noted in his remarks that the terms of the ceasefire agreement will largely be carried out under the incoming Trump administration, and that it is his hope they take the "real opportunity for the Middle East."

"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," Biden said.

But as he walked away, Biden appeared to brush off the role Trump played when asked by a reporter who should get credit for the deal five days before he would leave office and Trump takes over.

"Is that a joke?" Biden responded.

Biden administration officials walked through the long timeline of negotiations, starting with Biden's framework last May that prompted a summer of "intensive negotiations." Those talks, however, came to a halt on Aug. 31 when Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages were found dead in Rafah.

One of the key issues had been how many hostages Hamas had, which the official said they did not want to share for much of the past few months.

Since Jan. 5, an official said, negotiators have been in the region nailing down specifics including the complex details like "redeployment of Israeli forces, what Hamas must do, humanitarian provisions and the sequence of releasing hostages and releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners."

The official added this phase of talks has been "very intense" and came together over the past 96 or so hours.

President Biden held a series of calls over the last few days with key brokers in the region, the official stressed, including Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar and President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt.

"You know, there was no other way for this war to end than with a hostage deal, and I'm deeply satisfied this day has come, finally come, for the sake of the people of Israel and the families waiting in agony," Biden said.
"And for the sake of the innocent people in Gaza who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war," he continued. "The Palestinian people have gone through hell. Too many innocent people have died. Too many communities have been destroyed. And this deal, the people of Gaza can finally recover and rebuild. They can look to a future without Hamas in power."

ABC News' Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.