President Trump declared the end of the war in Gaza and received a standing ovation in the Israeli parliament on Monday for his leadership role in obtaining a ceasefire in the war-torn territory.
In a crucial part of the deal, Hamas released the last 20 living Israeli hostages, who had been in captivity for a little over two years.
In exchange, Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Most of the Palestinians were taken from Israeli prisons, put on buses, and taken to Gaza or the West Bank. They were greeted by cheering crowds, as well as hugs from friends and family. Israel also sent some abroad, effectively putting them into exile.
The released Palestinians included some convicted of murders who had been in prison for decades. Most were detained without formal charges during the two years of fighting.
Trump calls it a new era
“This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East,” Trump said to the members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.
“Generations from here on will remember this moment as the beginning of everything that began to change, and change very much for the better,” Trump said in a speech frequently interrupted by applause. “Just like the US now, it will be Israel’s golden age and the golden age of the Middle East.”
The Israeli parliamentarians chanted Trump’s name, and he received a prolonged standing ovation at the end of his long speech full of grandiose language.
In effect since Friday, the ceasefire has held after the deadliest fighting ever between Israelis and Palestinians. And if Israel and Hamas can complete the prisoner and hostage exchange as outlined in the deal, it should provide additional momentum for an agreement that still faces many obstacles.
Trump is a staunch supporter of Israel, although he exerted considerable pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the ceasefire proposal. Trump also pressured Arab countries, like Egypt and Qatar, for Hamas to agree to the truce.
Speaking before Trump, Netanyahu called the US president “the greatest friend the State of Israel has ever had in the White House”.
The handover of the hostages
In the hours before Trump’s speech, Hamas handed over the 20 Israeli hostages, in two separate groups, to the International Committee of the Red Cross inside Gaza. The Red Cross then delivered the hostages to the Israeli army, which quickly took them out of the territory to a military base in southern Israel. From there, they were helicoptered to hospitals in the Tel Aviv area.
All the hostages were men, and all were in their 20s and 30s, except one who was in his 40s.
Israeli television showed Einav Zangauker speaking with her son, Matan Zangauker, 25, on a video call shortly after his release. “There’s no more war, it’s over. You’re coming home,” she told him.
Photos released by the Israel Defense Forces showed smiling hostages reuniting with their families. A video showed the moment when hostage Eitan Mor, 25, reunited with his family, while his father hugged him and cried loudly.
The handover of the hostages triggered celebrations across Israel. Tens of thousands gathered in Hostage Square, the square in Tel Aviv that was the site of vigils throughout the war. The crowd roared in joy and waved blue and white Israeli flags.
Hamas is also obligated to hand over 28 bodies of dead hostages, although the Palestinian group says it has not been able to locate all of them.
After the brief visit to Israel, Trump was scheduled to fly to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, where the truce was negotiated last week, to attend a formal signing ceremony.
Leaders from more than 20 nations are expected to attend. However, leaders from Israel and Hamas were not initially invited. Egypt extended a last-minute invitation to Netanyahu on Monday, but he declined, citing a Jewish holiday.
The Egyptian government said that Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, which administers Palestinian areas in the West Bank, would participate.
On his flight to Israel on Air Force One, Trump portrayed the ceasefire as a victory for countries throughout the region.
“Everyone is happy, whether Jewish or Muslim or the Arab countries. Every country is dancing in the streets,” he said.
On another front, increased aid is beginning to flow into Gaza, where essential supplies have been critically scarce throughout the war. Hundreds of trucks with assistance entered southern Gaza from Egypt on Sunday. The territory is in urgent need of food, water, medicine, fuel, and tents.
Test for the ceasefire
Although the ceasefire started well, many larger issues remain unresolved.
Israeli troops pulled back on Friday, but still control about half of Gaza. They are to carry out additional pullbacks eventually, but there is no timetable for their complete withdrawal.
The ceasefire also requires that Hamas give up its weapons and have no role in Gaza’s future governance. Hamas has not publicly agreed to this, and Hamas civilian police have already reappeared on the territory’s streets. Currently, there is no other Palestinian group in Gaza capable of governing the territory.
The ceasefire provides for a group of Palestinian technocrats to administer Gaza on an interim basis, but they have not yet been appointed and it is unclear what kind of authority they would have, if any.
Source: npr.org by Greg Myre, Daniel Estrin