Donald Trump said this Wednesday, October 8, that he thought the hostages held in the Gaza Strip would be “back on Monday,” during an interview on the Fox News channel after the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
“I believe the hostages will return on Monday (…) this will include the bodies of the dead,” declared the US president.
Of the 251 people kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza, 47 remain hostages in Palestinian territory, 25 of whom died according to the Israeli army.
“We believe that Gaza will be a much safer, rebuilt place, and other countries in the region will help rebuild it, because they have enormous wealth and they want that to happen. And we (the United States) will be involved to help them make it a success and maintain peace there,” Donald Trump also assured.
“The whole world has joined this agreement”
He also made clear that he believed Iran would also “participate in the peace situation” in Gaza. “The entire world has joined this agreement (…) Many countries that would not have been thought of have (…) done everything necessary,” the American president rejoiced.
“It’s a very good thing for Israel, for Muslims, for Arab countries… for the United States,” he continued, adding: “It’s more than (peace in) Gaza. It’s peace in the Middle East.”
In a message published this Wednesday on his Truth Social network, the US president announced that Israel and Hamas had “accepted the first phase” of his peace plan for Gaza, within the framework of indirect talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Based on the Trump plan, these talks that began on Monday took place two years after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, sparked by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement against Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Trump plan, published on September 29 by the White House, provides for a ceasefire, an exchange of hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023 for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, the gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas.
Source: BFM TV
