The US President spoke at the Knesset before leaving for Sharm El-Sheikh to co-chair with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi the historic peace summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city later Monday, which will see the signing of the agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza.
The deal to end the war in Gaza, based on President Trump's 20-point plan, was brokered by Egypt, Qatar, the US, and Turkey after intense negotiations last week in Sharm El-Sheikh.
In his speech, President Trump highlighted Washington’s military support for Israel during what he called its “war of survival,” boasting of the scale of US weapons shipments.
“We have a lot of weapons, and we've given a lot of them to Israel frankly... Bibi would call me sometimes, can you get me this weapon, that weapon—some of them I had never even heard of,” he said.
During his speech, Trump told Netanyahu: “Bibi, you will be remembered for this more than if you'd kept it going—kill, kill, kill,” while affirming what he called Israel’s “victory” in Gaza.
“From 7 October until this week, Israel has been a nation at war, enduring burdens that only a proud and faithful people could withstand,” he said. “Israel has won all that can be won by force of arms. As you mentioned Bibi, before, peace through strength.”
“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still. The sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace, a land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity,” Trump said. “This is not only the end of a war... This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.”
“For so many families across this land, it has been years since you’ve known a single day of true peace... The long and painful nightmare is finally over,” the US president added.
He also thanked Arab and Muslim nations involved in mediating the release of captives held by Hamas and the ceasefire agreement.
“Let me also convey my tremendous appreciation for all of the nations of the Arab and Muslim world that came together to press Hamas to set the hostages free,” he said. “We had a lot of help, we had a lot of help from a lot of people that you wouldn't suspect, and I want to thank them very much for that. It's an incredible triumph for Israel and the world to have all of these nations working together as partners in peace.”
Addressing Arab and Islamic states involved in Gaza’s reconstruction, after Israel’s two-year bombardment reduced the territory to rubble, Trump said, “I thank the Arab and Islamic countries for their commitment to a safe reconstruction of Gaza,” urging further Arab normalization with Israel through the Abraham Accords.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, condemned across the globe, killed at least 67,000 Palestinians and injured around 170,000 others, mostly women and children, and destroyed most of the Strip.
“Let us rebuild Israel to be stronger and bigger, and the choice for the Palestinians is clear, to abandon violence,” he added.
Trump said “the entire region has agreed on a plan to disarm Hamas,” asserting that Israel’s security “will no longer be threatened in any way.”
The US president also addressed the situation in Lebanon.
“Hezbollah has been destroyed, and we support the Lebanese president to disarm the party and build a state that lives in peace with its neighbours,” he said.
On Israel’s 12-day war on Iran, Trump said that “Iran has been dealt a crushing blow, and it would be great to make a peace agreement with the Iranians.”
He added, “We have managed to put an end to the most dangerous state in the world and have completely ended its nuclear project.”
Iran maintains its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, and unlike Israel, it is party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Tehran notes that it had allowed regular international inspections until Israel and the US bombed its facilities earlier this year.
Meanwhile, as the US President was speaking in Israel, buses carrying released Palestinian prisoners entered Gaza through the Karm Abu Salem crossing, with several later arriving at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis for medical checks, according to Al Jazeera’s correspondent.
Trump concluded by reaffirming one of his most controversial policies, “I fulfilled my promise by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the US embassy there.”
He said the ceasefire had achieved “the impossible.”
“We have made peace, achieved the impossible, and returned the hostages to their homes. Israel, the United States, and the countries of the Middle East will be more secure than ever before.”
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