Trump says ‘long nightmare’ over for Israelis and Palestinians, receives standing ovation in Knesset
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JERUSALEM – US President Donald Trump hailed an end to a “painful nightmare” in a speech to Israel’s Parliament on Oct 13, as the last surviving hostages returned home from Gaza and a group of Palestinian prisoners were freed under a ceasefire deal he spearheaded.
Mr Trump’s lightning visit came ahead of a summit on Gaza in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, with his departing Israel just hours after he had arrived.
“From Oct 7 until this week, Israel has been a nation at war, enduring burdens that only a proud and faithful people could withstand,” Mr Trump told Israeli lawmakers, who gave a lengthy standing ovation upon his arrival.
“For so many families across this land, it has been years since you’ve known a single day of true peace,” he continued.
“Not only for Israelis, but also for Palestinians and for many others, the long and painful nightmare is finally over.”
Israel said the last 20 surviving hostages returned home on Oct 13 after two years in captivity in Gaza, part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas that Mr Trump had helped to broker.
In Tel Aviv, a huge crowd that had gathered to support hostage families erupted in joy, tears and song as news broke of the first releases, though the pain at the loss of those who had not survived was palpable.
Under the ceasefire deal, Israel is due to release nearly 2,000 prisoners held in its jails.
“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today, 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,” Mr Trump added.
“This is not only the end of a war, this is the end of a age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God,” he said.
A few minutes into his speech, Mr Trump was interrupted and heckled by MP Ayman Odeh, reported Al Jazeera.
Mr Odeh had posted earlier on his X account: “The amount of hypocrisy in the plenum is unbearable. To crown Netanyahu through flattery the likes of which has never been seen, through an orchestrated group, does not absolve him and his government of the crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, nor of the responsibility for the blood of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian victims and thousands of Israeli victims.
“But only because of the ceasefire and the overall deal am I here. Only ending the occupation, and only recognising the State of Palestine alongside Israel, will bring justice, peace, and security to all.”
Israeli Knesset member Ayman Odeh being escorted out after holding a sign during a speech by US President Donald Trump.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier said in his speech prior to Mr Trump’s that he was committed to peace.
Addressing Israel’s Parliament alongside the US leader, Mr Netanyahu also praised Mr Trump for helping broker the first phase of a Gaza deal
“Donald Trump is the greatest friend that the state of Israel has ever had in the White House. No American president has ever done more for Israel,” he said.
Mr Netanyahu also praised Israel’s soldiers, saying the country had “achieved amazing victories over Hamas”.
Mr Trump had earlier received a standing ovation from Israeli lawmakers ahead of his address to Parliament.
The applause lasted several minutes as lawmakers clapped and cheered Mr Trump, who was accompanied by his special envoy, Mr Steve Witkoff, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and daughter Ivanka.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is also due to return the bodies of 27 hostages who died or were killed in captivity, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 during a previous Gaza conflict.
Israel has said it does not expect all of the dead hostages to be returned on Oct 13.
Among those Israel was due to release in exchange are 250 security detainees, including many convicted of killing Israelis, while about 1,700 were taken into custody by the Israeli army in Gaza during the war.
On Oct 7, 2023, militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel, which led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians.
All but 47 of those hostages were freed in earlier truces, with the families of those who have remained in captivity leading lives of constant pain and worry about their loved ones.
In Gaza, too, the ceasefire has brought relief, but with much of the territory flattened by war, the road to recovery remains long. AFP, REUTERS
