Washington DC [US], October 9 (ANI): US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas have “signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” calling it a “historic and unprecedented event” that could mark the beginning of a “Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace” in the Middle East.
Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump declared, “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”
He continued, “All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
Sources told Al Jazeera that Hamas’s Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya is meeting with Egypt’s intelligence head in Cairo to finalise the details of what is being described as a “historic Gaza agreement.” The final announcement could come as early as Thursday, according to negotiators.
At the same time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly handed President Trump a handwritten note during a White House event on Wednesday, urging him to approve a Truth Social post about the peace plan before it was made public. “You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first,” read the note, written on official White House stationery, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Rubio, who was not part of Trump’s scheduled roundtable with conservative influencers, briefly entered the room, handed him the note, and whispered a few words before exiting.
Meanwhile, the third day of Gaza ceasefire talks is underway in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where negotiators are working to finalise Trump’s 20-point peace plan. Trump told reporters that he may travel to Egypt this weekend, saying negotiators are “very close” to sealing a Gaza deal and may soon require his direct presence.
“I was just dealing with people from the Middle East on the potential peace deal for the Middle East. ‘Peace for the Middle East’ — that’s a beautiful phrase,” Trump said. “I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday… Negotiations are going along well, dealing with Hamas and many of the countries… Nothing like that has happened before. If that’s the case, we’ll be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe Saturday, maybe a little later than Saturday evening, but that seems to be our schedule.”
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump is scheduled for a routine yearly check-up at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC on Friday morning, after which he may travel to the Middle East.
Despite diplomatic progress, tensions remain high. In a letter to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the State of Palestine accused Israel of waging a “genocidal war” in Gaza, saying that devastation in the enclave has reached “unprecedented levels.”
The letter, published on Palestine’s official X account, charged that “Israel, the occupying power, persists with its genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” accusing it of collective punishment and the “colonisation and annexation” of occupied land.
According to Palestinian officials, the casualty toll since October 2023 has exceeded 237,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, with most civilian infrastructure destroyed. The letter warned that Israel’s “all-out assault on Palestinian existence risks being replicated in the West Bank,” citing a surge in settler violence and forced displacement.
“Israel’s degradation of life and of international law must be halted. On this tragic second anniversary, we reiterate: This genocide must be stopped,” the letter stated.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported at least eight Palestinians killed and 61 injured in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours.
In Europe, Spain’s parliament voted in favour of an arms embargo on Israel, introduced by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who described the ongoing assault as “genocide.” The measure bans all trade of weapons, defence equipment, and military technologies with Israel.
The United Nations reports that nearly 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza have sustained major or life-changing injuries over the past two years. “One in four of those injured are children, and more than 5,000 amputations have been recorded,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.
Since October 2023, the Israel-Gaza conflict has killed at least 67,183 people and injured 169,841, with thousands more still missing beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings. On the Israeli side, 1,139 people were killed during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, and about 200 were taken captive. (ANI)
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