WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump declared there was “momentum toward a lasting peace” in the Middle East after Hamas released the last 20 Israeli hostages and Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners under a landmark Gaza ceasefire deal.
Trump received repeated standing ovations in the Israeli Knesset, calling the accord “the end of war and the beginning of a grand concord between Israel and its neighbors.” Later, at a peace summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh — joined by leaders from Qatar, Turkey, and Europe — Trump signed the Gaza peace declaration alongside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other regional leaders.
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The exchange marked the first phase of Trump’s 20-point peace roadmap, which includes further negotiations for permanent peace and the return of deceased hostages. Israel confirmed 1,968 Palestinian prisoners were freed as part of the agreement.
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu skipped the summit, Defence Minister Israel Katz accused Hamas of not fully meeting its commitments, saying only four of 28 bodies were returned. The Gaza war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, has so far killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians and 2,000 Israelis.
