In a speech to Israel’s parliament on a day when the country’s 20 living hostages were released as part of a ceasefire agreement he helped broker, President Donald Trump was expected to tell the Knesset, “This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East,” according to excerpts released by the White House.
In a sign of the warm welcome he was receiving, many in the audience were wearing MAGA-style hats that read “Trump The Peace President.”
“We gather on a day of profound joy, of soaring hope, of renewed faith — and above all, a day to give our deepest thanks to the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” he was expected to say.
“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,” Trump will say, according to the excerpts.
The White House posted a short video of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with the families of hostages before the his address.
After the speech, he was headed to an international “peace summit” in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt where he was to sign an agreement with more than 20 others leaders from around the world.
Trump arrived earlier Monday at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv Israel, where he was met by the Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
The final 20 living hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, were returned to Israel on Monday, Israeli officials said, the first phase of an agreement that also called for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners.
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