President Trump boarded Air Force One on Monday after the signing of the peace agreement aimed at ending the Gaza conflict, as well as his historic address to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. The president is expected back in Washington early Tuesday morning.
Hamas released the final group of 20 surviving Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 as part of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The hostages were reunited with their families in Israel. Along with the freed captives, the remains of four other hostages who were killed were also returned. Israeli authorities said that the bodies of 24 more slain hostages remain in Gaza.
Pres. Trump met with hostage families in the morning before delivering an address to Israel’s Knesset, where he said: “After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today, the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace. Together, we’ve achieved what everybody said was impossible. At long last, we have peace in the Middle East — it’s a very simple expression, peace in the Middle East. And we’ve heard it for many years, but nobody thought it could ever get there, and now we’re there.”
Trump was awarded the Order of the Nile by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The award, the highest civilian honor in the country, was awarded to President Trump for “his significant contributions to promoting peace, resolving conflicts, and most recently, his pivotal role in ending the war in Gaza.”
Trump extended his thanks to the world leaders he stood with, specifically calling out the heads of state of multiple Middle Eastern countries including Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia for their help with the peace agreement. The peace accord, brokered by the United States and signed by President Trump alongside several Middle Eastern leaders, formally launched the plan to bring the war to an end. Trump expressed optimism that the deal would “hold strong.”
As part of the broader agreement, Israel is set to free around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. This group includes roughly 250 individuals serving life sentences and about 1,700 others who have been held since the Hamas-led assault on October 7, 2023. A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas took effect at noon local time on Friday, after which Israeli forces completed their withdrawal to a designated line within Palestinian territory.
The White House later released a list of countries and organizations that had participated in the peace ceremony in Egypt: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, EU, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
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