NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell reports on White House involvement in the many months of negotiation leading up to the ceasefire deal and how both the Biden and Trump administrations wanted to see a resolution as soon as possible.

President Joe Biden confirmed the ceaesfire deal between Hamas and Israel, saying it is based on the May 2024 outline that was “unanimously” endorsed by the United Nations Security Council.  

“It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin,” Biden said in a statement today. “I am also if thinking of the American families, three of whom have living hostages in Gaza and four awaiting return of remains after what has been the most horrible ordeal imaginable.”

The president credited the work of numverous negotators, including Egpyt and Qater, and “extreme pressure” on Hamas, particularly after a ceasefire in Lebanon.

“My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done,” Biden said.

Families of hostages in Gaza are asking for “space” regarding news of the ceasefire deal and providing updates through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the organization said.

“The hours ahead will be filled with profound anxiety and emotion for all involved,” the forum said in a statement.

Though news broke that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal, Israel’s Cabinet must approve the deal before it can go into effect. The country’s Supreme Court has to then allow 24 hours to permit an appeal, meaning the earliest a ceasefire could go into effect would be Friday.

A senior Hamas official said the militant group was “very happy” to secure the deal but suggested it was very similar to one discussed back in May.

Basem Naim confirmed to NBC News in a statement that Hamas had agreed to the current deal.

But he said that “both parties have lost thousands of innocent civilians,” because of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “and his government political games.”

The agreement between Hamas and Israel still has some issues to be ironed out, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

“There are still several unresolved clauses in the outline, and we hope that the details will be finalized tonight,” his office said in a statement.

The statement also touted what it characterized as a compromise on Hamas’ part.

“Hamas has backed down on its demand at the last minute to change the deployment of forces on” the Philadelphi Corridor, a the narrow strip of land between Gaza and Egypt, according to the statement.

President-elect Donald Trump suggested today that the deal was reached because his election win “signaled to the world” that he would seek peace.

“I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones,” he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.

He said that his team had “achieved so much without even being in the White House.”

He added that his national security team and Steve Witkoff, his special envoy to the Middle East, would “continue to work closely with Israel and our allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven.”

His cousin Carmel Gat will not be one of the hostages to be freed, but Gil Dickmann told NBC News today that it was “very exciting to see that finally hostages are gonna come home.” Still, the news was bittersweet.

Gat, 40, was kidnapped from her parents’ home in kibbutz Be’eri. An occupational therapist from Tel Aviv, she was called a “guardian angel” by some of the hostages who were freed, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group for those held captive.

Her body was recovered in Gaza by the Israeli military in August.

Dickmann said it was “really sad to know that Carmel could have and should have been among them but a deal didn’t come in time and she was murdered in captivity.”

He also thanked President-elect Donald Trump for using his influence to secure the deal. “But this is only the beginning,” Dickmann added. “We urge him and call him to make sure that the Trump Deal doesn’t stop, and right after stage one we’ll have stage two releasing all the hostages. Leave no one behind.”

People in Tel Aviv react to the reports of a possible hostage release deal.

People celebrate in Khan Yunis, Gaza.

A ceasefire deal has been reached to end 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Israeli officials and a source briefed on the negotiations told NBC News on Wednesday.

The hard-won agreement will also free dozens of hostages held in Gaza, as well as Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, bringing the first real break in violence since a weeklong truce expired Dec. 1, 2023.

The new follows weeks of talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, amid a brutal winter for civilians in Gaza, as well as dramatic developments across the Middle East that have dealt setbacks to Iran, an Israeli foe.

Israel and Hamas have not officially announced a deal, although senior Hamas official Basem Naim confirmed to NBC News the militant group had agreed to it. Another source with direct knowledge of the talks and an Israeli official briefed on the deal also confirmed the news.

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