US President Donald Trump and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey have signed a declaration for bringing peace to Gaza at a summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el- Sheikh.”A new and beautiful day is rising and now the rebuilding begins,” said Trump, praising regional leaders who helped cement the truce between Israel and Hamas.Earlier, in his address to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, the president told cheering lawmakers that “the long and painful nightmare is finally over”. Israel is releasing 250 Palestinian prisoners and more than 1,700 other Palestinians detained during the two-year military operations in Gaza in exchange for the last 20 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas.The exchange, the first phase of Trump’s peace plan, is also due to include the return of the bodies of 28 dead Israeli hostages.In Egypt, Trump was all smiles in the company of Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and more than 20 other leaders from around the world.”Everybody’s happy,” Trump said, adding that he had done “big deals before” but “this has taken off like a rocket ship”. “This took 3,000 years to get to this point, can you believe it? And it’s going to hold up too,” he said. After the ceremony, President al-Sisi awarded Trump the Order of the Nile, a necklace made of pure gold considered to be Egypt’s highest honour.The Egyptian president called the day a “historic milestone that ends an agonising chapter”.Among the many world leaders at the summit who stood for a photo opportunity with Trump was Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who less than a week ago was blocked by the US from attending the UN General Assembly in New York.Although the first phase of the ceasefire agreement has been enacted, there is a lingering question over what role the Palestinian Authority might eventually play in Gaza.Trump said the second phase of negotiation …
