Biden welcomes Gaza ceasefire as aid trucks rush to help civilians

US President Joe Biden welcomed a ceasefire in Gaza on Sunday and said hundreds of trucks were entering the seaside enclave to help its civilians.

"Today the guns in Gaza have gone silent," Biden said in brief remarks during a visit to North Charleston, South Carolina. "We anticipate several hundred trucks will enter the Gaza Strip probably just as I am speaking."

Most civilians in the Gaza Strip have been displaced during 15 months of Israeli bombardment aimed at eliminating Hamas who attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Sunday was Biden's final full day in office. The outgoing president, a former US senator long involved in foreign policy, said the ceasefire deal was one of the toughest negotiations he has been involved with but defended his decision to back Israel through months of attacks that killed nearly 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

"The road to this deal has been not easy at all, it was a long road," Biden said, "but we've reached this point today because of the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States."

Biden, who hands over the US presidency to Republican Donald Trump on Monday, said it falls on the next administration to implement the Gaza deal.