President Donald Trump declared victory over Hamas in a speech to Israel’s legislature on Monday, urging the country to help him carry out his vision for the Middle East as the terms of a permanent peace deal are negotiated.
“Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms. You’ve won,” Trump said. “Now, it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East. It’s about time you were able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.”
In a nearly two-hour address before the Knesset, Israel’s 120-member legislature, Trump said the world is witnessing the “historic dawn of a new Middle East” with the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Earlier on Monday Hamas released all 20 living hostages in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinian political prisoners. The prisoner exchange marked the first step of a peace deal agreed to last week, which would mark the end of the two-year war between Hamas and Israel.
More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict, including more than 20,000 children, and those alive are suffering from widespread famine.
The details of a final peace deal are still being worked out, but Trump’s proposed agreement calls for the future of the Gaza Strip to be left to a “technocratic apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza.” The proposed committee would be chaired by Trump and include “qualified Palestinians and political experts” including Tony Blair, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom.
In his speech on Monday, Trump spoke at length about U.S. military efforts in Iran that targeted the country’s nuclear facilities — and offered an olive branch to the country in the form of a formal agreement that could ease the punishing sanctions currently in place.
“There’s nothing that would do more good for this part of the world than for Iran’s leaders to renounce terrorists, stop threatening their neighbors, quit funding their militant proxies and finally recognize Israel’s right to exist,” Trump said. “And to Iran … we are ready when you are, and it will be the best decision that Iran has ever made.”
Trump, the first president to visit Israel since former President George W. Bush in 2008, said he looks forward to extending his influence to Iran and working to continue easing tensions between Israel and its neighbors.
“This has been truly an honor. It’s seldom that a [non-Israeli] president is invited to do this,” Trump concluded before a standing ovation. “And I love Israel, I’m with you all the way.”
Trump also veered off script for a moment to call on Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, to pardon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently facing corruption charges.
“Mr. President, why don’t you give him a pardon,” Trump said from the podium, turning to Herzog. “Cigars and some champagne — who the hell cares?”
Following his stop in Israel, Trump flew to Egypt where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and took press questions before a global summit to help determine the future of Gaza.
When asked by a British reporter when “phase two” of the negotiations would begin, Trump said “They’re started as far as we’re concerned.”
“You know, the phases are all a little bit mixed in with each other,” Trump said, as reported by CBC. “They’ll start cleaning up — if you look at Gaza, it’s a lot of cleanup. … That’s what I call debris times 10.”