Just five days before the official transition of power, President Joe Biden, flanked by Vice President Harris and Secretary of State Antony J Blinken, announced that Israel and Hamas finally reached a peace agreement on Jan. 15. The president referenced scripture when celebrating the news of steps toward peace, after more than a year of violence where more than 1100 people were killed in an attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and subsequently more than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed since. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God,” said Biden who announced a three-phase peace plan between Israel and Hamas in the East Room of the White House.