US President Donald Trump on Monday declared the \u201chistoric dawn of a new Middle East\u201d during a landmark address to the Israeli parliament (Knesset), following a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the first address by a US president to the Knesset since 2008, and it came on the same day that the last 20 living hostages held in Gaza were released by Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cThis is a day of profound joy after two harrowing years,\u201d Trump said to thunderous applause from lawmakers who chanted his name. \u201cThis moment represents not only the end of a war, but the beginning of what will soon be a magnificent region.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners and more than 1,700 other detainees captured during its two-year military campaign in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump is also scheduled to attend a peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, alongside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other world leaders to discuss the next phase of his 20-point peace plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Introducing the American president, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump as the \u201cgreatest friend\u201d Israel has ever had in the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cEverything changed in America\u2019s attitude toward Israel\u2019s campaign in Gaza when Trump was re-elected,\u201d Netanyahu said, thanking him for his \u201cunremitting help\u201d in securing the return of the remaining hostages abducted in the October 7, 2023 attacks.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Trump returned the compliment, joking, \u201cHe\u2019s not the easiest guy to deal with, but that\u2019s what makes him great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The parliamentary chamber erupted in cheers, with lawmakers wearing red caps reading \u201cTrump the Peace President\u201d \u2014 a nod to his campaign-style slogan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Key members of Trump\u2019s delegation, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, joined him for the visit. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump also received loud applause for their roles in brokering the ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Israeli parliamentary speaker described Trump as \u201cthe most deserving candidate for next year\u2019s Nobel Peace Prize,\u201d while a few lawmakers opposed to the ceasefire boycotted the session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier, aboard Air Force One, Trump had announced that \u201cthe war is over\u201d in Gaza, pledging that the ceasefire would hold and that a new \u2018board of peace\u2019 would soon be established to administer the territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US President Donald Trump on Monday declared the \u201chistoric dawn of a new Middle East\u201d during a landmark address to the Israeli parliament (Knesset), following a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. It was the first address by a US president to the Knesset since 2008, and it came on the same day…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38,35],"tags":[2159,2164,2165,2160,2163,2161,2162,2158],"class_list":["post-2673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-world","tag-donald-trump-israel-speech","tag-gaza-war","tag-israel-hamas-ceasefire","tag-knesset-address","tag-middle-east-peace","tag-netanyahu-trump-friendship","tag-sharm-el-sheikh-summit","tag-trump-gaza-ceasefire"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t