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Trump boards Air Force One to fly to Egypt for 'peace summit'
US president Donald Trump has boarded Air Force One and is now set to leave Israel to fly to Egypt for the Gaza peace summit.
He was seen on to the plane by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom the pair shared seemingly warm exchanges – although most of the conversation on the runway was inaudible due to the noise of the plane.
Trump and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-host a summit of more than 20 world leaders in Sharm El Sheikh.
The summit’s aim is “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”, according to the Egyptian presidency.
The impressive aims of the meeting are matched by a similarly impressive guest list, many of whom have played a vital role in securing the ceasefire and hostage release deal that is currently in place.
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Trump arrives in Egypt for talks on Gaza future
US president Donald Trump has arrived in Egypt for a summit on Gaza’s future after visiting Israel to celebrate the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
More on this as we get it.
Emotional footage shows the moment families were reunited with freed Israeli hostages.
All 20 remaining living Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas after more than two years in captivity in Gaza.
Parents were reunited with sons and children with fathers, as those held were handed over to the Red Cross before finally rejoining their loved ones with the help of the Israeli army.
Huge crowds welcome buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners have arrived in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
Israel says it has released more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, which was brokered with help from the US, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.
Trump boards Air Force One to fly to Egypt for 'peace summit'
US president Donald Trump has boarded Air Force One and is now set to leave Israel to fly to Egypt for the Gaza peace summit.
He was seen on to the plane by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom the pair shared seemingly warm exchanges – although most of the conversation on the runway was inaudible due to the noise of the plane.
Trump and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-host a summit of more than 20 world leaders in Sharm El Sheikh.
The summit’s aim is “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”, according to the Egyptian presidency.
The impressive aims of the meeting are matched by a similarly impressive guest list, many of whom have played a vital role in securing the ceasefire and hostage release deal that is currently in place.
All 20 remaining living Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas after more than two years in captivity in Gaza.
Hostages were handed over to the Red Cross before finally rejoining their families with the help of the Israeli army.
Hamas had allowed some of the hostages to make video calls home on Monday morning before their release.
The US president, Donald Trump, is expected to head straight to his plane so he can co-chair the peace summit with Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in Sharm el-Sheikh as quickly as possible. He is running late.
The summit’s aim is “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”, according to the Egyptian presidency.
The continuing success of Trump’s deal – and how closely the next stages match up to Trump’s 20-point peace plan – are all expected to be up for discussions at Monday’s meeting.
Among those who are attending are the UN secretary general, António Guterres, Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Trump’s Gaza plan left open the possibility of a role for Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority in Gaza – contingent on various reforms – but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected such an idea.
The PA is a governing body that has control of parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Abbas met with Macron on the sidelines of the Egyptian summit and discussed the ceasefire agreement, the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, and the completion of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Joy and sorrow as only some Palestinian prisoners are released to Ramallah, while others are deported to Gaza
William Christou
William Christou is reporting for the Guardian from Ramallah:
Two busloads of Palestinian detainees were transferred from Israeli prisons to Ramallah, in the occupied West-bank, on Monday, where jubilant crowds awaited them.
In total, 88 of the nearly 2,000 prisoners were sent to the West Bank, with the rest deported to Gaza, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Commission.
Gaunt prisoners wrapped in the Palestinian keffiyeh flashed peace signs from the bus as the cheering crowd screamed their names.
Once the door of the bus was opened, police could not hold the surging crowd back. Family descended upon their loved ones, hugging them and carrying them on their shoulders towards waiting relatives. One prisoner rode his friend’s shoulders and with his fingers splayed into a V for victory, before collapsing before his mother’s feet.
“He’s been locked up for 24 years,” said a relative of Saber Masalma, a member of Fatah, the main faction of the Palestine Liberation Movement (PLO) who was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison on charges of conspiracy to cause death and placing explosive charges. Masalma had a phone shoved in his face, so that he could meet his nieces and nephews over video call for the first time.
Saber’s relative said that his condition had deteriorated dramatically over the last two years and that he barely recognised his brother after his dramatic weight loss.
“He looks like a dead body. But we will bring him back to life,” he said, laughing. They were off to a restaurant, where they would have to be careful that Saber does not eat too much, as his stomach is not used to much food after not eating well in prison.
Among the scenes of joy was also sorrow. Several families who had been told by the Israeli security services that their family members were coming home were surprised to see that their loved ones were not on the buses on Monday.
Prisoners told families that over a dozen prisoners had been taken last night from the main group so that they could be deported from Gaza, in a surprise to their families. Deportation to Gaza meant that it would be virtually impossible for families to see their loved ones again.
Seeing that their loved ones were not going to emerge from the buses as expected, a woman collapsed, while others began to wail.
“Why are they deporting him?,” a woman screamed in tears, as police officers rushed her away from the crowd.
The rest of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners were deported to Gaza, a small portion of whom would be exiled to neighbouring countries such as Turkey and Egypt.
Hamas’s director of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office has spoken to Al Jazeera about the Palestinian prisoners being released today from Israeli jails.
The director told the outlet that the end of the Israeli assault on Gaza is a “great day” and one that will see a number of prisoners who have been held in prisons for decades released.
The director added that more than 150 released Palestinian prisoners will be deported to other countries.
As a reminder, about 1,700 detainees from Gaza and 250 Palestinian prisoners are being released today as part of the ceasefire agreement in exchange for the Israeli hostages.
We brought you some of the first images sent to us over the newswires of Palestinian prisoners being reunited with loved ones in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, in the post at 11.06. Here are some more images:
Trump’s speech has finished. It went on for a long time, over an hour. It means he is late for the Egyptian peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, where there will reportedly be an official signing ceremony of the first phase of his Gaza plan.
With uncertainty hanging over exactly how Gaza will be governed (without Hamas), Trump said this is the chance for Palestinians to “turn forever from the path of terror”.
“This is their chance to turn forever from the path of terror and violence – it’s been extreme – to exile the wicked forces of hate that are in their midst, and I think that’s going to happen,” he said.
“Met some people over the last couple of months that want to see it happen. And after tremendous death, pain and hardship, now it’s the time to concentrate on building their people up instead of trying to tear Israel down.”
Trump says it would be 'great to get a peace deal' with Iran
Trump says he wants a peace deal with Iran, after the US oined Israel in striking the country’s nuclear sites during a brief war over the summer.
“They got it from one side, from the other, and you know it would be great if we could make a peace deal with them,” Trump said.
“Would you be happy with that? Wouldn’t it be nice, I think. Because I think they want to.”
The US, its European allies, and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear programme to conceal efforts to try to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
Prior to Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June, Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks but faced major stumbling blocks such as uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, which western powers want to bring down to zero.
Trump said that in Lebanon “the dagger of Hezbollah” aimed at Israel has been “totally shattered”.
“My administration is actively supporting the new president of Lebanon and his mission to permanently disarm Hezbollah’s… brigades.”
Israel has continued to launch strikes on Lebanon despite a 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, which states only UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army should be deployed in southern Lebanon.
Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its capabilities after the group suffered heavy losses during the war.
Earlier this month, the UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, called for renewed efforts to bring a permanent end to hostilities in Lebanon. He said that until the end of September, they have verified 103 civilians killed in Lebanon since the ceasefire.
The Lebanese government first aimed to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year, but officials later said resources are too limited to meet the deadline. The current aim is to fully clear a stretch along the Lebanon-Israel border, defined as south of the Litani river, by the end of November before moving into further phases.
Here is a video of the moment Trump was briefly interrupted by a leftwing Knesset member during his speech (see post at 12.25 for more details):
Trump has hailed an end to a “painful nightmare” after two years of Israel’s war in Gaza.
“From 7 October until this week, Israel has been a nation at war, enduring burdens that only a proud and faithful people could withstand,” he said during his address to Israel’s parliament.
“For so many families across this land, it has been years since you’ve known a single day of true peace … The long and painful nightmare is finally over,” the US president added.
Only four deceased hostages to be returned today, hostage and missing families forum says
We have an update from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, who says it is “shocked and dismayed” to learn that only four of the 28 deceased hostages held by Hamas will be returned today.
The forum wrote in a post on X:
The hostage families were shocked and dismayed to learn that only 4 deceased hostages will be returned today, out of 28 held by Hamas. This represents a blatant breach of the agreement by Hamas.
We expect Israel’s government and the mediators to take immediate action to rectify this grave injustice.
The families of the deceased hostages are enduring especially difficult days filled with deep sorrow.
We will not abandon any hostage. The mediators must enforce the agreement’s terms and ensure Hamas pays a price for this violation.
We are not sure on the identities of the four hostages that will be returned today, and there has been no confirmation from Israeli officials on the number of bodies expected today.
Donald Trump says “Bibi (his nickname for Netanyahu) would call me so many times” asking for weapons – “so many that Israel became strong and powerful … that’s what led to peace,” he told the Israeli parliament.
