(Compiled) Thousands of people are returning home and beginning to rebuild in Gaza following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. As part of the agreement, Hamas has released all 20 surviving Israeli hostages, while Israel is releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees for the return of the Israeli hostages. They include 250 people who are serving life sentences and about 1,700 others who have been detained and held without charges since the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack. The bodies of 28 deceased hostages are also being returned. Israeli forces have withdrawn to agreed-upon positions, and humanitarian aid shipments into Gaza are expected to increase. Talks over Gaza’s future governance are ongoing. President Trump’s peace plan calls for Hamas to disband and disarm, with an international force upholding the ceasefire. The U.S. military plans to deploy up to 200 troops to Israel to support stabilization efforts in Gaza.
While President Donald Trump has declared the Israel-Hamas war over, some Middle East experts say the process to end the two-year conflict is just beginning.
Monday’s historic release is just part of the first step of Trump’s 20-point plan to bring peace to the region.
“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, a land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity,” Trump said in a speech on Monday to the Israeli parliament.
Trump added, “This is not only the end of a war, this is the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God. It’s the start of a grand concord of lasting harmony for Israel and all the nations of what will soon be a magnificent region.”
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been hesitant to publicly say the war with Hamas was over, he said during a speech that preceded Trump’s address that he is “committed to this peace.”
“Mr. President, today we welcome you here to thank you for your pivotal leadership in putting forward a proposal that got the backing of almost the entire world, a proposal that brings all our hostages home, a proposal that ends the war by achieving all our objectives, a proposal that opens the door to a historic expansion of peace in our region and beyond our region,” Netanyahu said.
“Mr. President, you are committed to this peace. I am committed to this peace and, together, Mr. President, we will achieve this peace,” the prime minister said.
Following his visit to Israel, Trump flew to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for a peace summit he co-chaired with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and where the official signing ceremony of his ceasefire proposal occurred Monday afternoon.
Opening the summit, el-Sisi praised Trump for brokering a peace deal that is beneficial to the entire region. He invited Trump to “join the peace lovers’ leaders, leaders who advocate for peace in the world.”
“At this historic milestone, where we are all together, [and] witnessed the reaching of this Sham el-Sheikh agreement on ending war in Gaza,” el-Sisi said.
He went on to call the agreement “a glimpse of hope that such [a] deal ends an agonizing chapter in the history of mankind, and opens the door, ushering in a new era of peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Experts said that despite the historic initial phases of the peace proposal being executed, the meeting in Egypt, which included more than 20 world leaders, is where difficult next steps begin.
Trump is receiving applauds and commendations for the Israel-Hamas deal from leaders around the globe as well as from Former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Joe Biden. Former President Bill Clinton said Mr. Trump and his team “deserve great credit,” and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer commended the president in addition to many US leaders and officials.
• Aid began flowing back into Gaza following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that went into effect on Friday. Israel has completed a pullback of its military troops to a pre-approved line in the Palestinian territory.
• The peace remains fragile and major questions over what comes next are unanswered. (Compiled FR Edwards)