Trump-Gaza latest: US president signs peace deal and withdraws Netanyahu’s invite amid Erdogan threat
US president Donald Trump has hailed a “momentous” breakthrough and “the new beginning for an entire beautiful Middle East” after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and detainees.
As he signed a ceasefire deal document with other leaders at a key summit in Egypt, Trump spoke of how moved he was by seeing Israeli hostages being reunited with their families.
Earlier, in a mid-air power struggle, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plane circled over the Red Sea as he threatened to boycott the meeting and that the plane landed only after it became clear that Benjamin Netanyahu would not arrive, reported local media citing sources.
Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had also warned Egyptian and US officials that he would withdraw from the summit if Netanyahu attended, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency.
Meanwhile, emotional reunions have taken place across Israel, Gaza and the West Bank after all 20 living Israeli hostages and captives were released by Hamas, before Israel released more than 1,900 prisoners and detainees.
Buses carrying dozens of freed Palestinians drove to the West Bank city of Ramallah and the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run Prisoners Office said.
