It was announced on Wednesday that a long-sought ceasefire and hostage release agreement had been reached between Israel and Hamas, but there seems to be some disagreement in political circles about precisely who should receive the lion's share of the praise.

Though President Joe Biden attempted to claim credit for achieving the deal for which the world has waited, even his own State Department acknowledged the “absolutely” critical role of President-elect Donald Trump's team in the negotiations, as Breitbart reports.

Biden takes a bow

Fox News was among the outlets that reported on Wednesday that a ceasefire agreement had been reached in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, one which was said to provide for the release of a significant number of hostages over a series of weeks.

The deal was described by Biden during a press conference in which he explained that a first six-week phase would be marked by a “full and complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas, including women and elderly and the wounded,” a group that would also include some Americans still held captive.

Biden added that “During the next six weeks, Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get phase two, which is a permanent end of the war,” noting also that “the plan says if negotiations take longer than six weeks, the ceasefire will continue as long as the negotiations continue.”

“When phase two begins, there will be an exchange for release of the remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, and all remaining Israeli forces will be withdrawn from Gaza, and the temporary ceasefire will become permanent,” he went on, articulating that phase three would involve the return of any remains of deceased hostages and the start of a “reconstruction plan for Gaza.”

According to Biden, the agreement was based entirely on elements he “laid out in detail this past May,” and when he was asked whether his team or Trump's team -- which notably included envoy Steve Witkoff, who has engaged extensively with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days -- should receive credit, he asked, “Is that a joke?”

Trump team's role acknowledged

During a Wednesday briefing, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller appeared far more willing to admit the role of the president-elect and his envoy in facilitating the agreement, saying, “When it comes to the involvement of President-elect Trump's team, it has been absolutely critical in getting this deal over the line.”

Miller added, “And it's been critical because obviously, as I stand here today, this administration's term in office will expire in five days, and one of the things that we have always said about this deal is that when you get from stage one to stage two that the United States, Egypt, and Qatar are the guarantors of this deal. And Egypt and Qatar will push Hamas to say at the bargaining table and to get from stage one to stage two, and the United States will push Israel to stay at the bargaining table to get from phase one and phase two.”

Trump, who recently warned that “all hell will break out” if a hostage release deal was not reached by the date of his inauguration, responded to Wednesday's news on his Truth Social platform, hinting that it was his impending return to the White House that made all the difference in the outcome.

“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.

The president-elect also declared, “We have achieved so much without even being in the White House. Just imagine all of the wonderful things that will happen when I return to the White House, and my Administration is fully confirmed, so they can secure more Victories for the United States!”

Eleventh-hour hiccups emerge

Amid both the Biden and Trump victory laps over the agreement that was announced on Wednesday, as Fox News noted separately, a delay in implementation appeared to unfold on Thursday, when Netanyahu postponed a cabinet hearing that was set to conclude with a vote on the proposal, with the prime minister stating that Hamas was “creating a last-minute crisis that prevents a settlement.”

Even so, Biden national security spokesperson John Kirby maintained, “There's a deal. We're confident that we're going to be able to start implementing in on Sunday. There are some implementing details that still need to be ironed out. We're working with the Israelis on that very, very hard right now,” but whether he is ultimately correct in those assertions, only time will tell.