‘Holy Land at peace’ as Gaza truce deal signed

US President Donald Trump along with mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey signed on Monday a document on the Gaza ceasefire deal during the international summit hosted by Egypt in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

At the summit, Trump said, “After the Gaza deal, rebuilding will begin. The reconstruction requires that Gaza remains demilitarised.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi said Trump’s West Asia proposal represented the “last chance” for peace in the region and reiterated his call for a two-state solution, saying Palestinians had the right to an independent state.

The summit in Egypt was aimed at supporting the ceasefire reached in Gaza, ending the Israel-Hamas war and developing a long-term vision to rebuild the devastated Palestinian territory.

This came as Hamas freed the remaining 20 Israeli hostages from Gaza and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees as Trump told Israel’s parliament that peace had arrived in the Holy Land. The Israeli military said it had received all 20 hostages confirmed to be alive after their transfer from Gaza by the Red Cross. The announcement prompted cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv.

In Gaza, thousands of relatives, many weeping with joy, gathered at a hospital where buses brought home some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees to be freed by Israel as part of the accord.

“The skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace,” Trump told the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, saying a “long nightmare” for both Israelis and Palestinians was over.

“Now it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire West Asia,” he said before departing for the summit in Egypt.