Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
U.S. President Donald Trump will receive a hero’s welcome in Israel’s parliament on Monday as a fragile Gaza ceasefire he helped to broker enters a fourth day, with the expected release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners marking tentative steps in a conflict long resistant to resolution.
Trump’s Knesset speech follows two years of war sparked by a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, that killed around 1,200 people in Israel with 251 taken hostage.
Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults have since devastated Gaza, killing more than 67,000 Palestinians, the enclave’s health officials say.
“The war is over,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he began his flight from Washington to Israel. Asked about prospects for the region, he said: “I think it’s going to normalise.”
The U.N. said humanitarian aid was ramping up, with cooking gas entering for the first time since March and expanded food and medical deliveries.
The truce and the exchange of both hostages and prisoners offered a glimmer of hope, but despite Trump’s optimism, the loss of life, devastation and trauma underscored how distant a lasting peace remains.
Progress now hinges on global commitments that could be taken up by a summit later on Monday of more than 20 world leaders led by Trump in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh resort.
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