US President Donald Trump, while aboard Air Force One en route to Israel on Sunday night, October 12, declared that the newly brokered Gaza peace agreement “could be the biggest thing I was ever involved in.”
The deal, which coincided with the imminent release of the last 20 remaining living Israeli hostages held by Hamas on Monday, is intended to conclude a conflict that, according to the Gaza health ministry, has resulted in over 67,000 Palestinian deaths.
The focus of the visit is Trump’s address to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Monday morning, where his message to the Israeli people is “Love and peace for eternity.” His schedule in Israel also includes meetings with the families of the hostages and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The president mentioned watching a Saturday rally in Tel Aviv for the hostages, where speakers included his daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and envoy Steve Witkoff.
He described the gathering as “an incredible rally,” noting the crowd’s enthusiastic cheering for his name but their reported booing of Netanyahu’s name when mentioned by Witkoff.
Looking ahead, Trump expressed enthusiasm for the international conference scheduled for later on Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, which will be held in support of the peace deal.
He suggested that the wide variety of attending countries demonstrates global unity behind his plan.
While noting that the Egyptian hosts managed the guest list, Trump commented that he did not know why Prime Minister Netanyahu was not expected to attend, but viewed the attendance of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a positive development.
The president also asserted that the Gaza deal’s success was linked to his previous decision to order an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.
He claimed that the weakening of Iran’s backing made Hamas more amenable to compromise and that resolving the issue of Iran’s nuclear program enabled Arab and Muslim nations involved in the talks to unite around finalizing the agreement.
