Donald Trump has shared his thoughts about whether the Gaza ceasefire, orchestrated by the US President, will hold. Mr Trump expressed optimism that peace will last, despite it already appearing to have been broken. Just hours after Israel’s government ratified the first phase of the deal, explosions and smoke were seen in Gaza in the early hours of Friday morning.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said: “I think it’ll hold. Yeah, I think it’ll hold. They’re all tired of the fighting.” Two days after the second anniversary of the October 7 massacre, Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration announced that its cabinet members had backed the pact, after 734 days of war. In a statement, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office confirmed: “The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased”. The truce will be activated within 24 hours of the cabinet session, with Hamas expected to surrender the surviving and deceased Israeli captives within 72 hours following that deadline. After their return home, Israel will set free 250 Palestinians imprisoned for life and 1,700 Gazans detained since October 7, 2023.
Thousands of people have been seen moving north in Gaza since the ceasefire was announced.
The US President also expressed optimism about the reconstruction of Gaza, where more than 90% of homes are estimated to have been damaged and destroyed, while healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed.
Mr Trump said: “Gaza is going to be rebuilt, and you have some very wealthy countries, as you know, over there, and it would take a small fraction of their, their wealth to do that, but, and I think they want to do it”.
Civilians have begun to return to the land of rubble that has become of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. One man said: “No signs of life are left. Everything has been wiped out”.
The US President’s comments on Friday come just hours after it was revealed he had missed out on the Nobel Peace Prize, losing to Venezuelan opposition leader and politician María Corina Machado.
Donald Trump has repeatedly sought the prize since his first term, most recently telling United Nations delegates late last month that “everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Responding to the news, Steven Cheung, White House Director of Communications, slammed the committee, saying, “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.
“President Trump will continue making peace deals around the world, ending wars, and saving lives. He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will.”
