First phase of ceasefire begins, Palestinians march towards Gaza City
Displaced Palestinians march north toward devastated Gaza City as the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas begins.
President Donald Trump is headed to the Middle East for a whirlwind visit to Israel and Egypt as the United States continues to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ahead of the planned release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners of war.
President Trump will arrive in Tel Aviv on Monday to address the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, before heading to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for what the White House is calling a “Middle East Peace Ceremony.”
Fighting paused for a third day in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, ahead of the scheduled release of 20 Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the first phase of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan aimed at ending more than two years of Israel-Hamas war.
“This is going to be a very special time,” Trump told reporters as he departed on Air Force One amid a light rain at Joint Base Andrews. “Everyone is so excited about this moment.”
President Trump called the trip a “special event” as Muslims and Arabs were joining Israel in celebrating the ceasefire.
“Everyone is cheering all at once. We’ve never seen anything like this before,” Trump said. “This is the first time something like this has happened. Everyone is surprised and excited.”
The United States, along with Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, brokered an agreement between Israel and Hamas after President Trump announced a peace plan with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 29. Israeli and Hamas negotiators then agreed to a deal last week, which President Trump announced on social media.
Asked about how the Israel-Hamas deal fits into his legacy, Trump cited several international conflicts he credits with resolving them.
President Trump said, “I’m good at resolving wars.” “I’m good at making peace. I’m saving lives.”
Trump was campaigning to win the Nobel Peace Prize. But on Friday, the award was presented to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Colina Machado.
President Trump said that “in fairness to the Nobel Committee,” the award was for work in 2024.
“I didn’t do this for the Nobel Prize,” Trump said. “I did this to save a life.”
Asked about the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that collapsed in March, Trump told reporters that the current agreement involving Arab and Islamic countries could not have happened at the time.
“Sometimes you have to go through the pain before everything happens,” Trump said.
He acknowledged that Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Indonesia were each key to achieving the current settlement.
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of support, which is amazing,” Trump said. “They all came together. Everyone is dancing in the streets, like in Israel. This is a unique time.”
Trump added: “That wouldn’t have happened back then.”
President Trump told Fox News in August that he might be able to go to heaven if he ended the war between Russia and Ukraine.
He told reporters on Sunday that he was trying to be “kind of cute” but didn’t think he would go to heaven after Israel and Hamas negotiated a ceasefire.
“I don’t think anything can take me to heaven. I don’t think I’m bound to heaven,” Trump said. “I don’t know if I can make heaven, but I have made many people’s lives better.”
President Trump told reporters he had a good conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday morning, and Zelenskiy asked for additional weapons and said he may eventually provide Tomahawk missiles.
Trump said he would first call Russian President Vladimir Putin and warn him that if the war did not end, he would provide cruise missiles to NATO, which could then hand them over to Ukraine. President Trump said the Tomahawk was an escalation of weapons in the three-year war.
“They desperately need patriots,” Trump said. “They want the Tomahawks. That’s a step forward.”
Trump said he would first discuss the tomahawk with Putin because it represented “a new phase of aggression.”
“To be honest with you, we may have to talk to Russia about the Tomahawk,” Trump said. “Do they want the Tomahawks to go in their direction? I don’t think so.”
“I might say, if this war doesn’t get resolved, we might send them the Tomahawks,” Trump added. “Maybe I’ll say that. Maybe I won’t, but maybe I will.”
The ceasefire and anticipated disengagement come more than two years after the conflict began. On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel responded with a major military offensive in the Gaza Strip that leveled large swaths of the enclave, displacing thousands of people and killing more than 67,000. Most of them were civilians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Twenty Israeli hostages are scheduled to be released on October 13th. Half of the hostages were taken while attending or working at a music festival in Reims, southern Israel, during the October 7 attack.
Hundreds of others were killed, including several festival-goers who were taken but later released. Those expected to return to Israel include two sets of brothers, dual Israeli citizens, and two Israeli soldiers.
The agreement reached by both Israel and Hamas also includes the bodies of 28 hostages, but it is unclear when the bodies will be returned.
Israeli hostage coordinator Gal Hirsh told Reuters that a special committee would be formed to help find the remains of dead hostages that Hamas was unable to locate.
According to Reuters, Israel plans to release 1,700 Palestinians and 22 Palestinian minors held in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, along with the bodies of 360 militants.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said the military would destroy underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip built by Hamas if the hostages were returned. Palestinians who have returned to northern Gaza have described widespread devastation.
Rescue workers warned that there may be unexploded ordnance or bombs in the area.
Contributed by: Reuters
