President Donald Trump on Monday hailed a “new beginning” for the Middle East, ahead of his address to Israel’s parliament, as Hamas released all 20 living Israeli hostages from captivity in Gaza.
Trump arrived in Israel on Monday morning, to mark the exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners between Israel and Hamas.
“This is my great honor – a great and beautiful day. A new beginning,” Trump wrote in a guestbook.
The twenty surviving Israeli hostages were released on Monday as part of a deal aimed at ending the conflict that began with the attack by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. Israel also began releasing about 2,000 Palestinians, including 250 terrorists.
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Trump received several standing ovations from Israeli lawmakers as he prepared to deliver a speech after meeting with the families of hostages.
Trump wrote in a guestbook at the Knesset: “This is my great honor – a great and beautiful day. A new beginning.” Trump attended the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on Monday, October 13, 2025. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)
Trump plans to proclaim “the historic dawn of a new Middle East” in his Knesset speech and that “this will be remembered for generations to come as the moment when everything began to change,” according to excerpts released by the White House.
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Trump will also insist that “Israel has won everything that can be won by force of arms,” and that “it is time to translate these victories over terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity.”
In a gesture to Iran, which waged a brief war with Israel earlier this year, Trump wants to say that “the hand of friendship and cooperation is always open.”
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Following his visit to Israel, the president will then continue to Egypt, where Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi will lead a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh with leaders from more than two dozen countries on peace in Gaza and the broader Middle East.
