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After facing backlash for staying silent as Israeli hostages were freed from Gaza, New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani finally broke his silence Monday afternoon.
“Today’s scenes of Israelis and Palestinians are profoundly moving: Israeli hostages being freed and families reunited after years of fear, uncertainty, and torture; the first days in Gaza without relentless Israeli bombardment of Palestinians as families return to rubble and loved ones freed from detention,” Mamdani posted on X on Monday shortly after 4 p.m. EST in a message that did not mention President Donald Trump or acknowledge his role in the negotiations.
Mamdani went on to mark the development as a “glimmer of hope” that the ceasefire will “hold” and the “long and difficult work of reconstruction can begin.”
“I also know this news brings solace to millions of New Yorkers, who’ve felt the pain of the past few years,” Mamdani said. “We have watched as our tax dollars have funded a genocide. The moral and human cost will be a lasting stain and requires accountability and real examination of our collective conscience and our government’s policies.”
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Mamdani’s lengthy post concluded by saying that the “responsibility now lies” with those who “believe in peace.”
“Once aid is delivered, the wounded are cared for, and a lasting agreement secured, we cannot look away,” Mamdani said. “We must work towards a future built upon justice, one without occupation and apartheid, and for a world where every person can live with safety and dignity.”
Mamdani’s post came roughly three hours after one of his opponents, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, called him out on social media for not commenting that morning as the hostages were released.
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“It shouldn’t go unnoticed that @ZohrankMamdani — who still refuses to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ (widely understood to mean death to Jews) — has yet to comment on the release of the hostages,” Cuomo posted on X. “His silence speaks volumes.”
Both Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa released statements on social media earlier in the morning praising the release of the hostages, with Sliwa being the only one to offer praise to Trump by name.
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In a CNN interview on Friday, Mamdani hinted that he was open to giving Trump credit.
“If the genocide ends, then I think that’s something worthy to be praised, and if the hostages are returned,” Mamdani said. “Those things together have to be done in tandem.”
Mamdani’s post quickly brought critical reactions, including from New York City GOP Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.
“GLARINGLY MISSING FROM THIS WORD SALAD: Any single mention of HAMAS or the TERRORISTS who brought this upon themselves by murdering & raping their way across Israel on 10/7,” Vernikov posted on X. “You know, the same terrorists that your wife was glorifying on her Instagram story? Those terrorists?”
Mamdani, who has been widely criticized for his comments and positions on Israel, spent Sunday night raising money for a United Nations organization that employed Oct. 7 terrorists, just hours before the final living Israeli hostages were released from Hamas captivity.
Trump celebrated “peace in the Middle East” after he signed the historic peace agreement that ended two years of fighting in Gaza.
“At long last, we have peace in the Middle East, and it’s a very simple expression, peace in the Middle East,” Trump said during remarks at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, flanked by dozens of world leaders.
“We’ve heard it for many years, but nobody thought it could ever get there. And now we’re there.”
Trump went on: “This is the day that people across this region and around the world have been working, striving, hoping, and praying for. With the historic agreement we have just signed, those prayers of millions have finally been answered. Together, we have achieved the impossible.”
His remarks came after Hamas released the final remaining 20 living hostages on Monday as Israel backed off its frontline positioning in Gaza over the weekend.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
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