Trump to visit Israel, Egypt as Gaza deal secures hostages, peace efforts

WASHINGTON,DC: US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) outlined his upcoming visits to Israel and Egypt, following the Israeli government’s approval of phase one of the Gaza peace plan.

Describing the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas as a “great deal” for the world, Trump said that the deal would secure the release of hostages and the return of approximately 28 bodies.

“It is a great deal for Israel, but it’s a great deal for everybody, for Arabs, for Muslims, everybody, for the world. On Monday, the hostages come back. They’re in some pretty rough places under Earth. Only a few people know where they are… They’re also getting approximately 28 bodies. Some of those bodies are being unearthed right now as we speak. It’s a tragedy. I’ll be going to Israel. I’ll be speaking at the Knesset. Then I’m also going to Egypt. Everybody wants this deal to happen,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump added that the agreement represents a broader step towards peace in the Middle East.

“I think Gaza is going to be rebuilt. There are some very wealthy countries there. It would take a small fraction of their wealth to do that. Gaza is very important, but this is beyond Gaza. This is peace in the Middle East. It is a beautiful thing,” the US President said while noting that he will address the Knesset during his visit.

Earlier, the Israeli government voted in favour of a ceasefire and hostage release agreement under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza Peace Plan, CNN reported. This came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially convened Israel’s security cabinet to discuss the decision, and subsequently, held a meeting with ministers.

“The government has now approved the outline for the release of all the hostages – the living and the dead,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s office announced early on Friday morning, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Officials have stated that the ceasefire will take effect immediately, according to CNN.

Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were also present in the Israeli government’s meeting in Jerusalem, where the government voted on the US-brokered ceasefire deal.

With this, the Israeli government approved “phase one” of a ceasefire agreement, where the exchange of hostages and Israel’s withdrawal from parts of Gaza is expected, Al Jazeera reported.

Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya spoke about the guarantees received from the US that the ceasefire agreement’s first phase means that the war in Gaza “has ended completely”.

Earlier, US President Trump on Wednesday announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan, which would end the war in Gaza with a ceasefire deal. In this, he said that the hostages will be released.

Later, the US President held a cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday morning following the announcement that the “first phase” of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas would commence soon.

At the meeting, Trump said, “Last night, we reached a momentous breakthrough in the Middle East, something that people said was never going to be done. We ended the war in Gaza, and I think it’s going to be a lasting peace, hopefully, an everlasting peace.”

Meanwhile, Israeli parliament’s (Knesset) speaker Amir Ohana invited Trump to deliver an address before the Knesset and called him the “greatest friend and ally of the Jewish people in modern history”.

In the letter shared on Thursday, Ohana hailed Trump’s leadership and vision in “not only to a deal securing the release of all Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, but also to an unprecedented regional agreement accepted by nearly every nation in the Middle East.”

Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is “about to achieve the central aim” of the war in Gaza, after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas after two years of conflict.

Netanyahu said the breakthrough came after both sides agreed to release hostages and prisoners under the first phase of the Gaza peace plan.

In a short address on Thursday, Netanyahu said, “We are at a momentous development. In the last two years, we’ve fought to achieve our war aims. And a central one of these war aims is to return the hostages, all of the hostages, the living and the dead. And we’re about to achieve that.”

Netanyahu thanked Trump for mediating the peace process, which ended a war that killed thousands on both sides. (ANI)