President Donald Trump was in Israel on Monday to celebrate the US-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas before continuing on to Egypt for a key summit that he hopes will solidify an end to the war and pave the way for a more durable peace in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will join Trump in Egypt, along with more than two dozen other leaders, according to the White House.
The plans were finalized during a phone call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi while Trump was at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament – Trump’s first stop on a whirlwind trip to the region.
Trump may also stop at the Sheba Medical Center to meet some of the newly released Israeli hostages. Twenty were released as part of an agreement intended to end the conflict that began on Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas. By early afternoon, Israel also began to release Palestinian prisoners.
“This is a great day, this is a whole new beginning,” Trump told reporters after arriving at the Knesset. “And I think there´s never been an event like it, I´ve never seen anything like it,” he added according to AP.
The US leader was planning to declare “the historic dawn of a new Middle East” in a speech to lawmakers and that “generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change,” according to excerpts released by the White House.
Trump will also insist that “Israel has won all that can be won by force of arms” and “it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity.”
