President Trump on Sunday departed the US for the Middle East, where he will visit Israel and Egypt, as the first phase of the fragile Gaza ceasefire deal appears to be holding.
During his visit to Israel, Trump will deliver a speech to the Israeli Knesset, making him the first US president to do so since George W. Bush in 2008. The president won’t be in Israel for long as he’s scheduled to travel to Egypt on Monday to attend a summit on Gaza in the city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-chair the summit, which will be attended by representatives from more than 20 countries and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas and Israel will be attending, as the purpose of the meeting is for the guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire deal — the US, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey — to “agree to the very broad principles” of the 20-point framework that was released by the White House, according to a US official speaking to The Times of Israel.
Many details of the deal still need to be worked out, and there are signs that Israel may restart its bombing campaign once Hamas releases the Israeli captives, which is set to happen on Monday. But in comments to reporters on Sunday, Trump insisted Israel’s genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip has come to an end.
A reporter speaking to the president on Air Force One noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has not gone so far as to say the war is over” and asked Trump if he believed the conflict was over. “The war is over,” Trump said in response. “The war is over. Ok. You understand that?”
President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have been in Israel for several days and spoke at a hostage rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday. During Witkoff’s speech, the crowd cheered loudly for Trump and booed when he praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
