'Historic dawn of a new Middle East'

US President Donald Trump called for “the historic dawn of a new Middle East” in an address to the Israeli parliament, as he visits the region to celebrate a deal halting the war in Gaza and securing the release of prisoners held by Hamas.

- AGENCIES

“This is not only the end of a war, this is the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope,” Trump said on Monday in remarks from the Knesset. Trump used the address to call on Israel to “translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East” while pushing Gazans to focus on “restoring the fundamentals of stability, safety, dignity, and economic development, so they can finally have the better life their children really do deserve.”

Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza on Monday under a ceasefire deal and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees, as Trump told Israel’s parliament that peace had arrived in the Holy Land.

The Israeli military said it had received all hostages confirmed to be alive, after their transfer from Gaza by the Red Cross. The announcement prompted cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv.

In Gaza, thousands of relatives, many weeping with joy, gathered at a hospital where buses brought home some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees freed by Israel as part of the accord.