In Sharm El Sheikh — the city once called “the gateway to peace” — U.S. President Donald Trump has proclaimed the end of the two-year Gaza war, calling it “the dawn of a new Middle East.” Standing before the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem and later beside Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Trump announced the full release of all surviving hostages and the beginning of phase two of his 20-point peace plan, aimed not only at rebuilding Gaza but at restructuring the region’s political order.
The last 20 living hostages were freed Monday morning, concluding a harrowing saga that began with the Hamas-led massacres of October 7, 2023.
Their return — alongside Israel’s release of 250 Palestinian prisoners and more than 1,700 Gazan detainees — has unleashed emotional scenes across Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Families embraced at hospitals in Tel Aviv; crowds filled the streets of Gaza as buses unloaded freed prisoners.
“This is not simply about restoring Gaza,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, flanking Trump and Sisi in Egypt.
“It is about transforming the region.” His words echoed the ambition now shaping Washington’s broader vision — an extension of the Abraham Accords that could expand normalization between Arab nations and Israel and, in time, open a new channel of dialogue with Iran.
Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — the architects of the original peace framework — told reporters they began implementing the deal “the minute it was signed.
” Egypt, which hosted the negotiations, will now coordinate reconstruction in Gaza with U.S. sponsorship. Sisi hailed Trump as “the only one capable of bringing this about,” declaring, “Enough with war — welcome to peace.”
The next steps remain delicate. The bodies of four deceased hostages are to be repatriated in coordination with the Red Cross, while humanitarian corridors must remain open under international supervision.
Phase Two of Trump’s plan will focus on rebuilding Gaza’s infrastructure, establishing joint Israeli-Arab security mechanisms, and creating a provisional civil administration backed by regional partners.
Behind the choreography lies a shifting power balance. Trump’s re-entry into Middle East diplomacy — after years of drift under previous administrations — reasserts American primacy in a region that had increasingly tilted toward Russian and Chinese influence.
His peace drive also pressures Arab capitals to align behind a U.S.-led security vision rather than Tehran’s expanding “axis of resistance.”
In Jerusalem, Trump framed the moment as both vindication and rebirth. “After decades of bloodshed, the peoples of this region now have a choice — endless war or enduring peace,” he said. “Today, they have chosen peace.”
Whether this accord becomes the cornerstone of a genuine Middle East transformation or merely a fragile truce will depend on what follows in the weeks ahead. But for now, in Sharm El Sheikh — where past peace efforts began and faltered — the world witnessed the return of hostages, the release of prisoners, and the first tangible sign that the longest war in Israel’s history may finally be ending.
