President Biden sought to take credit for a cease-fire Thursday between Israel and Hamas,
despite reports that it was Egypt that brokered the peace. Biden, who spoke at the White H
ouse, included a sentence in his remarks commending Egyptian officials for their "critical
role" in ending the fighting. But he repeatedly emphasized the intensive work he said was
done by his own administration."Over the last 11 days, I spoke with the prime minister si
x times. I've also spoken with President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority more the once
and part of our intense diplomatic engagement," Biden said, "And I want to also thank sec
retary of state, the secretary of defense, our national security adviser, and everyone on
our team for their incredible efforts to bring this about, this outcome that we're about t
o see. "You know, we've held intensive, high-level discussions, hour by hour, literally, E
gypt, the Palestinian Authority and other Middle Eastern countries, with an aim of avoidin
g this sort of prolonged conflict we've seen in previous years when the hostilities have b
roken out."Biden vowed to help Israel replenish its Iron Dome system and to work with the
Palestinian Authority to rebuild Gaza. Biden said he’d spoken with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on the cease-fire and commended him on his decision to bring hostilitie
s to a close. "The United States fully supports Israel's right to defend itself against in
discriminate rocket attacks from Hamas," Biden said. LIVE UPDATES: ISRAEL CARRIES OUT AIRS
TRIKES IN GAZA AS HAMAS OFFICIAL PREDICTS CEASE-FIRE SOONBiden said the prime minister had
also shared his appreciation for the Iron Dome system, Israel’s missile defense that was
built with help from the U.S. Biden said the system "has saved the lives of countless Isra
eli citizens, Arab and Jew. "I assured him of my full support to replenish Israel's Iron D
ome system to ensure its defenses and security in the future," Biden said. Biden said he’d
also spoken with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is a member of the Fatah Party
rather than Hamas. ISRAEL OFFICIALS APPROVE CEASE-FIRE WITH HAMAS "I send my sincere condo
lences to all the families, Israeli and Palestinian, who have lost loved ones and my hope
for a full recovery for the wounded," he continued. "The United States committed to workin
g with the United Nations, and we remain committed to working with the United Nations and
other international stakeholders to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and to marshal i
nternational support for the people of Gaza and the Gaza reconstruction efforts.""We will
do this in full partnership with the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, Palestinian Authori
ty, in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal."The de
adly fighting that erupted after heightened tensions left at least 12 Israelis and 230 Pal
estinians dead in the crossfire in the worst breakout of violence since the 2014 Gaza war,
according to reports. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHamas has fired more than 4,000 r
ockets into Israel over the past 11 days in response to a clash between Israeli police and
Palestinian protesters, and the IDF struck back with devastating airstrikes.