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‘Everybody’s Cheering,’ Trump Says Ahead of Middle East Trip to Mark Gaza Peace Deal
The White House announced a deal to end the conflict and return hostages still held by Hamas on Oct. 8.
President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One for a trip to the Middle East, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Oct. 12, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Joseph Lord
10/12/2025|Updated: 10/12/2025
President Donald Trump on Sunday departed Washington for a trip to the Middle East announced earlier this week following the achievement of a deal between Israel and Hamas.
“This is a very special event,” the president said at Joint Base Andrews before boarding Air Force One for his flight to Israel.
“They had 500,000 people yesterday and today in Israel, and also the Muslim and Arab countries are all cheering. Everybody’s cheering at one time.”
The White House on Oct. 8 announced a deal to end the conflict and return hostages still held by Hamas.
Following publication of the agreement, the White House announced that Trump could make a trip to the region in the coming days.
As part of the deal, Trump said that hostages still being held by Hamas are likely to be released in the coming days.
In exchange, Israel agreed to withdraw its troops to an “agreed upon line.”
Trump will visit Israel first to address the Israeli Parliament.
Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said Trump also was likely to meet with newly freed hostages.
“Knock on wood, but we feel very confident the hostages will be released and this president is actually traveling to the Middle East, likely this evening, in order to meet them and greet them in person,” Vance told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Oct. 12.
Trump will then travel to Egypt, where he and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi will lead a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh with leaders from more than 20 countries on peace in Gaza and the broader Middle East.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump was optimistic about the future for the region, citing Arab and Muslim nations’ growing willingness to cooperate with the United States.
“I think you are going to have tremendous success and Gaza is going to be rebuilt,” Trump said Friday. “And you have some very wealthy countries, as you know, over there. It would take a small fraction of their wealth to do that. And I think they want to do it.”
The war in Gaza has raged since Oct. 7, 2023, when a number of terrorist groups led by Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages. Today, an estimated 20 hostages are still believed to be alive in captivity.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 67,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict. The figure does not distinguish between fighters and civilians and includes some deaths from natural causes. The Epoch Times is unable to verify these figures.
Trump’s Gaza peace deal included Israel’s withdrawal to an agreed line, a suspension of all military operations in Gaza, and the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, along with 1,700 Gazans detained after Hamas’s October 2023 terrorist attack on Israel.
“Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza,” the agreement reads.
According to Trump’s peace plan, Gaza will be governed by a temporary, apolitical Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with managing daily public services and municipalities in Gaza.
The committee will be composed of qualified Palestinians and international experts. It will operate under the oversight of a new international body, the “Board of Peace,” headed and chaired by Trump. The board will include prominent names such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, with additional members to be announced.
The peace plan also states that when the Palestinian Authority completes its reform program, it could prepare the conditions for “a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
The plan includes making Gaza a terror-free zone so that it does not pose a threat in the future. The Gaza Strip will receive full aid when hostilities end.
Both Trump and Netanyahu have made it clear that Hamas will play no role in the governance of Gaza.
“All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt,” the plan reads.
“No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return.”
Trump highlighted the plan during a joint news conference with Netanyahu at the White House on Sept. 29.
“Working with the new transitional authority in Gaza, all parties will agree on a timeline for Israeli forces to withdraw in phases. They'll be withdrawing in phases,” the president said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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From The Epoch Times
Link:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/tru...ner&src_cmp=gp
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