U.S. President Donald Trump expressed confidence that the ceasefire in Gaza “will hold,” describing his trip to the Middle East as “very special.”
“The war is over, okay?” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, en route to the region, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). He added that the ceasefire agreement would “definitely hold.”
Trump said he had received verbal “assurances” from both Israel and Hamas, as well as other key regional actors, regarding the first phase of the agreement. He added that he did not believe anyone “wants to let him down.”
He also expressed a desire to visit Gaza, or at least “set foot on its soil” and pledged to establish a new peace council focused on the Strip, which he would lead. He said the council would be formed “very quickly.”
Trump announced last Thursday that Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on the first phase of his plan for a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner exchange.
