President Donald Trump told Israeli lawmakers on Monday that their country had no more to achieve on the battlefield and must work toward peace in the Middle East after two years of war against Hamas and skirmishes with Hezbollah and Iran.
Although the US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas remains fragile, Trump is determined to seize an opportunity to chase an elusive regional harmony. “Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change,” he declared to the Knesset, which welcomed him as a hero.
“Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms,” Trump said. “You’ve won. I mean, you’ve won. Now it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.”
Trump promised to help rebuild Gaza, which has been devastated during the conflict, and urged Palestinians to “turn forever from the path of terror and violence.”
“After tremendous pain and death and hardship, now is the time to concentrate on building their people up instead of trying to tear Israel down.
Trump even plans to make a gesture to Iran, where he bombed three nuclear sites during the country’s brief war with Israel earlier this year, by saying “the hand of friendship and cooperation is always open.” The US president will continue on to Egypt for a summit with more than two dozen other nations, although he was running hours late as speeches at the Knesset continued longer than expected.
“They might not be there by the time I get there, but we’ll give it a shot,” Trump joked after needling Israeli leaders for talking so much.
There was a chance that Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would join him, and Egypt even announced his attendance. However, Netanyahu’s office said later that he would not be going because the summit was too close to the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
Twenty hostages were released Monday as part of an agreement intended to end the war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, with an attack by Hamas-led militants. Trump may meet some of them at the Sheba Medical Center, and he talked with families at the Knesset.
Israeli lawmakers chanted Trump’s name and gave him standing ovation after standing ovation. Some people in the audience wore red hats that resembled his “Make America Great Again” caps, although these versions said “Trump, The Peace President.”
Netanyahu hailed Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House” and he promised to work with him going forward.
“Mr President, you are committed to this peace. I am committed to this peace,” he said. “And together, Mr. President, we will achieve this peace.”
The moment remains fragile, with Israel and Hamas still in the early stages of implementing the first phase of Trump’s plan.
The first phase of the ceasefire agreement calls for the release of the final hostages held by Hamas; the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel; a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza; and a partial pullback by Israeli forces from Gaza’s main cities.
With families overjoyed at the impending reunions and Palestinians eager for a surge of humanitarian assistance, Trump thinks there is a narrow window to reshape the region and reset long-fraught relations between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
“The war is over, OK?” Trump told reporters travelling with him aboard Air Force One.
“I think people are tired of it,” he said, emphasizing that he believed the ceasefire would hold because of that.
Trump says he will resolve Afghan-Pak conflict
Washington, Oct 13 (IANS): US President Donald Trump has expressed his intention to mediate the border conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan, claiming that he can bring an end to the dispute, referring to the other wars that he has “resolved”.
He made these statements as he was heading to Egypt for a summit on the Gaza peace process, which will officially mark the end of the two-year-long conflict in the Middle East, claiming it to be the eighth war he has resolved.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said, “This will be my eighth war that I have solved, and I hear there is a war now going on between Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
“I said, I’ll have to wait till I get back. I am doing another one. Because I am good at solving wars,” he said, adding that conflicts that lasted for decades were solved ‘relatively quickly’ during his tenure as the US President.
“Think about India, Pakistan. Think about some of the wars that were going on for years… We had one going for 31, one going for 32, one going for 37 years, with millions of people being killed in every country, and I got every one of those done, for the most part, within a day. It’s pretty good,” Trump said.
Speaking about the Nobel Peace Prize, which was accorded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, Trump said, “I did not do this for the Nobel. I did this for saving lives.”
“The person who got the Nobel Prize called me today and said, ‘I am accepting this in honour of you, because you really deserved it’. I’ve been helping her along the way,” he added. Trump outlined several international disputes that he asserted were resolved during his leadership, including those between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Rwanda and the Congo.
Also, since the truce was announced in May 2025 following Operation Sindoor, Trump has repeatedly claimed he played a monumental role in halting military escalation, often attributing it to his trade and tariff policy. New Delhi, however, maintains that the decision to pause hostilities was reached via direct talks between the military leadership of both sides, without third-party mediation.