US President Donald Trump urged Israel to seize the chance for peace and called on Palestinians to turn “forever from the path of terror” in a speech to the Israeli parliament Monday, hours after Hamas released all 20 living hostages.
Trump received a hero’s welcome by the Knesset — as well as being briefly heckled by a left-wing member, who was promptly escorted — after brokering a ceasefire that raised hopes for lasting peace in the region.
“Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change,” Trump told lawmakers, describing the truce as “the end of the age of terror and death.”
It came amid scenes of jubilation in Tel Aviv, where huge numbers gathered for public screenings of the hostages being released. Shortly after, bus-loads of Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel arrived in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, AFP reported.
Trump used his address to say it would be “great to get a peace deal” with Iran, Israel’s other major conflict, after the US aided the Jewish state in striking Tehran’s nuclear sites earlier this year.
Analysts are skeptical over whether the Gaza peace agreement — which calls for a full disarmament of Hamas, among other vexxing issues — will be fully implemented, even as its initial phase looked to be unfolding as hoped.