GOP presidential candidates hailed the agreement reached between Israel and Hamas late Tuesday, but some expressed concern about the limited number of Israeli hostages to be released and warned that President Biden may use the pause in fighting to push the Jewish state for a “permanent cease-fire.”
Under the terms of the deal approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, 50 hostages held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip would be freed in exchange for at least a four-day halt to the six-week-old war beginning Thursday morning, as well as the release of 150 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Republican White House hopefuls, including former Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, celebrated the hostages being released, but noted that key questions remained unanswered.
“I am overjoyed that families may soon be reunited with their loved ones. But the world must demand more from Hamas. Why only 50 hostages? Demand Hamas release ALL the hostages NOW,” Haley wrote on X.
Israel is committed to freeing all the approximately 240 hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel and this agreement marks the first step, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The Israeli government has publicly vowed to commit to an additional day of cease-fire for every 10 additional hostages released by Hamas.
Christie, who travelled to Israel last week and met with the families of hostages, told Fox News Tuesday that it was “imperative” that Americans held by Hamas be freed.
The hostage families “gave me this dog tag to keep with me,” he said. “It says, ‘Bring them home now.’ And I think that’s exactly the imperative, not only for the Israeli hostages, but for the American hostages that are held there as well.”
Three American hostages, including two women and three-year-old Abigail Mor Idan, are expected to be among those released, a senior US official said.
“I hope the Biden administration is working hard toward getting it done, because those folks need to stop the suffering of those innocent people who were taken hostage by the terrorist organization Hamas,” the former New Jersey governor added.
Burgum added that once the cease-fire time expires, Israel should “then finish the job destroying Hamas.”
“I am very concerned Joe Biden and the radical left will now try to pressure Israel into a permanent cease-fire. That can’t be allowed. It would mean victory for Hamas and Iran — and a massive loss for America and Israel,” the 67-year-old North Dakota governor voiced on X.
In a statement late Tuesday, Biden praised the leaders of Qatar and Egypt for helping broker the deal, and lauded Israel’s cease-fire “to ensure the provision of additional humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinian families in Gaza.”
The president also said the “deal should bring home additional American hostages” and that he “will not stop until they are all released.”
The campaigns of former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy had not made any public statements regarding the hostage release as of midday Wednesday.