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 normalize.”
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.
A LASTING PEACE SEEMS DISTANT
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.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will attend the summit in Egypt, an Axios reporter said on Sunday, citing a senior Palestinian official. No Israeli officials will attend, Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said.
Bedrosian said Israel expected the remaining hostages to begin returning early on Monday with the 20 living hostages to be released together, followed by the handover of bodies of the remaining 28 dead hostages.
She said 1,700 Palestinians detained since October 7, 2023, along with 22 minors and the bodies of 360 militants, would be released only after Israeli hostages were safely returned.
On the ground, Palestinians returning to northern Gaza described scenes of staggering destruction.
“We couldn’t believe the devastation,” said Rami Mohammad-Ali, 37, who walked 15 kilometers (9 miles) with his son from Deir Al Balah to Gaza City. “We are joyful to return, but bitter about the destruction,” he added, recounting the sight of human remains scattered along the roads.
ISRAELIS BOO NETANYAHU, CHEER TRUMP
Multitudes who gathered late on Saturday at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square cheered and waved placards in praise of Trump during a speech by his special envoy Steve Witkoff but booed loudly when Witkoff sought to thank Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his role in the ceasefire effort.
Trump will become only the fourth U.S. president to address the Knesset, following Jimmy Carter in 1979, Bill Clinton in 1994 and George W. Bush in 2008.
In a letter last week inviting Trump to deliver a formal address, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana wrote: “The people of Israel regard you as the greatest friend and ally of the Jewish nation in modern history.”
Israeli critics of Netanyahu, including hostages’ families, accuse him of deliberately prolonging the conflict to placate his far-right government coalition partners, whose backing is crucial to his political survival. The International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, which Israel denies.
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