WASHINGTON

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he is "deeply satisfied" that a long-elusive agreement to end Israel's 15-month war on the besieged Gaza Strip has been reached, acknowledging Palestinians in the coastal enclave "have gone through hell."

"There was no other way for this war to end than with a hostage deal, and I'm deeply satisfied this day has finally come for the sake of the people of Israel and the families waiting in agony, for the sake of the innocent people in Gaza who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war," he said in remarks delivered from the White House.

"The Palestinian people have gone through hell. Too many innocent people have died, too many communities have been destroyed. In this deal, the people of Gaza can finally recover and rebuild. They can look to a future without Hamas in power," he added.

The president laid out what he said is the deal's three-phase structure. It begins with a six-week period in which a "full and complete cease-fire" will be established alongside the "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."

Americans are slated to be part of that release, which will be met with Israel's freeing of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinians will also be allowed to return to their neighborhoods "in all areas of Gaza," and a "surge" of badly needed humanitarian assistance will begin during that time, Biden said.

Israel currently holds more than 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, while it is estimated that 98 Israelis are detained in Gaza. Hamas said that many Israeli captives have been killed in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes.

Negotiations on "necessary arrangements" to get to phase two will take place during the initial six-week period and the cease-fire will be extended "as long as the negotiations continue," said Biden.

Phase two includes a further exchange of detainees for the release of the remaining hostages who remain alive in Gaza, including male soldiers. All remaining Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza during that period, and the temporary cease-fire will become permanent.

The final third phase will see the return to their families the remains of any hostages killed in Gaza, and the start of what Biden said will be "a major reconstruction plan for Gaza."

"This is the cease-fire agreement I introduced last spring. Today, Hamas and Israel have agreed to that cease-fire agreement and the whole ending the war," he said.

The cease-fire comes on day 467 of Israel's indiscriminate campaign against Gaza, which has killed over 46,700 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas-led cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Some 1,200 people were killed in that attack, and about 250 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages.

More than 11,000 Palestinians have gone missing amid sweeping the destruction caused by Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many Palestinians, young and old alike, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent times.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.​​​​​​​