By Mohammad Sio
ISTANBUL (AA) - Israeli Knesset speaker Amir Ohana on Thursday invited US President Donald Trump to deliver a speech in parliament, praising his role in securing the Gaza ceasefire and hostage swap deal.
“Your leadership, courage, persistence, and vision have led not only to a deal securing the release of all Israeli hostages, but also to an unprecedented regional agreement accepted by nearly every nation in the Middle East,” Ohana stated in his invitation and posted on his official account on the US social media company X.
“It is therefore my profound honor and privilege to officially invite you to deliver a formal address to the nation before the Knesset,” he said, noting that Trump's speech would be the first by a sitting US president since George W. Bush addressed the Knesset in 2008.
The invitation comes as a ceasefire agreement was announced at dawn on Thursday following four days of indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Egypt’s Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh, with mediation from Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar, and the US.
On Sept. 29, Trump unveiled a 20-point plan for Gaza that includes the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire, and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip.
Phase two of the plan calls for establishing a new governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas’ participation, the formation of a security force made up of Palestinians and troops from Arab and Islamic countries, and the disarmament of Hamas. It also stipulates Arab and Islamic funding for the new administration and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, with limited participation from the Palestinian Authority.
Arab and Muslim countries have welcomed the plan, but some officials have also said that many details in it need discussion and negotiations to be fully implemented.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.