Muslim civil rights and advocacy group commends President-Elect Trump for supporting a deal and says President Biden cost lives by refusing to force ceasefire long ago.
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/15/2025) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed the “long overdue” ceasefire deal to end the genocide in Gaza.
CAIR also thanked President-Elect Trump for reportedly putting pressure on all parties, including Netanyahu, to reach a deal and condemned President Biden for refusing to use American leverage to secure this agreement months ago, leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths.
CAIR also today called for the incoming Trump administration to support a just, lasting peace by ensuring Israel’s compliance with the deal and pursuing the end of illegal occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“We welcome this long overdue ceasefire deal, which President Biden should have forced Netanyahu to accept over a year ago instead of needlessly funding so much death and destruction.
“We commend President Trump for pushing for a ceasefire deal and reportedly warning Netanyahu that Israel, too, would face consequences for continuing to refuse to make a deal. We urge the incoming Trump administration to ensure that the Israeli government does not sabotage this ceasefire deal, and we also urge the administration to pursue the end of the occupation so that a just, lasting peace can prevail across the region.
“Let’s be clear. President Biden and his failed foreign policy team deserve zero credit for this belated deal. Instead of using U.S. leverage to secure this deal long ago, they spent over a year violating U.S. law and making a mockery of international law by using billions of American taxpayer dollars to fund the Israeli government’s war crimes and depriving the American people of critical services.
“The Biden administration’s legacy is soaked with the blood of countless Palestinian men, women, and children, as well as an untold number of captives who have also been killed in Israel’s indiscriminate bombing campaign with U.S. support. The International Criminal Court must continue pursuing war crimes cases against those responsible for the genocide, including Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We hope that this ceasefire deal brings the Israeli government’s genocidal war in Gaza to a permanent end and sets the stage for the pursuit of a just, lasting peace that ends the broader occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people.”
According to the mediator Qatar, the agreement is set to be implemented in three phases, the first of which would last 42 days. The deal would deliver the first reprieve from the war and genocide for the people of Gaza in more than a year. The first phase will involve the exchange of captives and the withdrawal of the Israeli military from population centers in Gaza.
Negotiations to reach the second and third phases of a ceasefire agreement, intended to end the war, would begin on the 16th day of the implementation of the deal. President-Elect Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly exerted pressure on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the deal.
SEE: What we know about emerging Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal | CNN
The Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza has led to the deaths of more than 45,000 people, including tens of thousands of women and children. According to the medical journal The Lancet, some 186,000 may have died since Israel’s invasion of Gaza began in October 2023. The Lancet also estimates that the death toll caused by direct Israeli military action in Gaza up to June 2024, was 64,260, 41 percent higher than recorded by the Palestinian health officials.
