Trump declares 'end' to Israel's war on Gaza, suggests captives should be freed by early next week
US President Donald Trump says will "try" to go to Egypt for deal signing and conveys particular gratitude to Turkish President Erdogan for his role in securing ceasefire agreement.
President Donald Trump has declared that the US and other negotiators helped end Israel's war on besieged Gaza, stressing the Israeli captives should be released on Monday or Tuesday and that he hopes to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt.
Trump opened a White House Cabinet meeting on Thursday to discuss the deal reached on Wednesday under which the captives held in Gaza are to be released as part of a first phase of a broader Gaza plan.
He said, "We ended the war in Gaza," hoping it would lead to "lasting peace."
Trump also congratulated the mediators, Türkiye, Egypt, and Qatar, for reaching the deal. He also thanked Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Jordan in his remarks.
He conveyed particular gratitude to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his personal role in securing the ceasefire agreement.
"President Erdogan was personally involved in securing a ceasefire deal," he said.
Trump also mentioned that he was ready to work with Iran.
"Iran wants to work on peace. Tehran was totally in favour of the Gaza ceasefire deal, and we appreciate that, and we'll work with Iran," he said.
'Big retribution'
Trump said that Israeli captives held in Gaza since October 7, 2023 should be released on Monday or Tuesday and that he hopes to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt.
Since 2023, Tel Aviv has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000 others.
Some 10,000 Palestinians are feared buried under the rubble of their bombed homes. Another 10,000 have been abducted by Israel and dumped in Israeli jails and torture chambers.
But experts and some studies say this is just a tip of an iceberg and the actual Palestinian death toll could be around 200,000.
In his remarks, Trump also referred to the killings of 70,000 people in Gaza by Israel as a "big retribution."
Fom the "Hamas standpoint, they probably lost 70,000 people, and that is big retribution," he said.
Trump said under the plan, Gaza, which lies in ruins due to indiscriminate Israeli bombardment over the past 24 months, is going to be "slowly redone," a reference to plans to rebuild the Palestinian enclave.
He did not provide details.
Hamas is expected to release the 20 living hostages together, 72 hours after the ceasefire begins.
"We are getting the hostages back on Tuesday, Monday or Tuesday, and that'll be a day of joy," Trump said.
Second Phase
Trump said that disarmament would be part of the second phase of a Gaza deal, with Israel insisting that Hamas must give up its weapons.
"I'm not going to talk about that because you sort of know what phase two is. But there will be disarming," Trump told reporters, adding that there would also be "pullbacks" by Israeli forces.
A senior Hamas official has, however, stated that no Palestinian would accept disarmament, emphasising that Palestinians are in greater need of weapons and continued resistance, Reuters reported.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Araby the Palestinian resistance group rejects Trump's proposal for an interim "Board of Peace" to oversee Gaza's administration, headed by the US president himself.
"No Palestinian would accept this. All the factions, including the Palestinian Authority, reject this," Hamdan said.