 "US President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up while boarding Air Force One, as he departs for Israel, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, October 12, 2025. AFP")
US President Donald Trump declared that the “War in Gaza is over” as he flew to Israel on Sunday to oversee the imposition of his Gaza peace proposal. “The war is over, you understand that,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One as he began a flight from Washington, DC, to Israel .
When asked about the prospects of the region, Trump said: “I think it’s going to normalise.“ The remarks from Trump came after Hamas and Israel accepted his proposed ceasefire deal, prompting a hostage-prisoners exchange which is scheduled to take place on Monday. During his trip to Israel, Trump is scheduled to address the country’s parliament, the Knesset .
Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians continued with their journey to the north, especially to Gaza City , which has been the focus of Israeli attacks over the past two months. “Tomorrow is the beginning of a new path. A path of building, a path of healing, and I hope - a path of uniting hearts,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement.
Meanwhile, government spokesperson of the Jewish nation, Shosh Bedrosian, said Israel expected hostages to start being released early on Monday morning, with the 20 living hostages to be released together. If hostages were released earlier, Israel was ready to receive them, she said. Their release is to be followed later by the handover of the bodies of the remaining 28 deceased hostages .
Iran to skip Gaza summit in Egypt
Meanwhile, Iran on Monday announced that neither its President Masoud Pezeshkian nor foreign minister Abbas Araghchi will attend the Gaza summit in Egypt , despite receiving a late invitation from Cairo on Sunday evening, IRNA reported. Soon after the report, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took to X and said that Iranian leaders would not “engage with counterparts who have attacked the Iranian people and continue to threaten and sanction us,” referring to the United States.
In his statement, the Iranian Foreign Minister was hinting at a joint US-Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites during the 12-day conflict in June. He maintained that Tehran nevertheless supports any initiative “to end Israel’s genocide in Gaza” and to uphold Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIt is pertinent to note that Iran, which does not recognise Israel, has backed the Palestinian cause since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Gaza peace summit in Egypt will be co-chaired by Trump and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi . The peace summit would aim to consolidate the ceasefire and outline a political framework for Gaza’s post-war governance. More than 20 nations are expected to participate, though neither Israel nor Hamas will be in attendance.
With inputs from Reuters.