Politics
Trump declares ‘new Middle East’ after landmark Gaza deal
- US president hopes for a peace deal with Iran.
- Trump calls for pardon for Israeli PM Netanyahu.
- Israeli lawmaker heckles Trump during speech.
JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump on Monday stated that the ceasefire he helped broker in the Gaza war had ushered in the “historic dawn of a new Middle East”.
“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace, a land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity,” he said during his address to the Israeli parliament.
“This is not only the end of a war… This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.”
Hailing the agreement for peace in Gaza, he said that the “long and painful nightmare” was finally over for Israelis and Palestinians.
“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.
Meanwhile, several buses carrying prisoners released by Israel in exchange for hostages freed by Hamas arrived in the Gaza City of Khan Yunis.
Thousands of people gathered to welcome the prisoners, cheering and waving Palestinian flags in celebration.
Trump termed the agreement an “incredible triumph for Israel and the world” as he thanked mediators from the Arab and Muslim world.
“Let me also convey my tremendous appreciation for all of the nations of the Arab and Muslim world that came together to press Hamas to set the hostages free and to send them home,” Trump said.
The US president also hoped for a peace deal with Iran, after the US joined Israel in striking the country’s nuclear sites during a brief war earlier this year.
“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 of Iran.
Trump, however, said the ball was in Tehran’s court for any agreement to come to pass. “We’re ready when you are.”
He also defended pulling out of an agreement brokered under ex-president Barack Obama on Iran’s nuclear programme.
“I terminated the Iran nuclear deal, and I was very proud to do it,” Trump said.
His address to the Israeli parliament was briefly interrupted as a left-wing lawmaker was expelled.
“That was very efficient,” Trump quipped as the MP was quickly taken out. The US president had paused as a Knesset staff member audibly ordered the expulsion of lawmaker Ofer Cassif after an apparent protest.
During his speech, Trump called for a pardon for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing multiple court cases in which he stands accused of corruption.
“Hey, I have an idea. Mr President (Isaac Herzog), why don’t you give him a pardon?” Trump said during an address to Israel’s parliament.
“By the way, that was not in the speech, as you probably know. But I happen to like this gentleman right over here, and it just seems to make so much sense, you know.”
Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said that the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has reached 67,869.
“The total toll of the Israeli aggression since October 7, 2023, has risen to 67,869 martyrs,” the ministry said, as it continued recovering the bodies of those killed during the war.
Gaza summit
Later in the day, Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-chair a summit of a host of world leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh.
After the Egyptian presidency announced Netanyahu’s expected attendance, the Israeli leader said he was unable to go because the summit coincides with a Jewish holiday.
The Egyptian foreign ministry had said that a “document ending the war in the Gaza Strip” was expected to be signed during the “historic” gathering.
According to three diplomatic sources, mediators the US, Egypt, Qatar and likely Turkey would sign a guarantee document during the summit.
Hamas will not be represented at the summit, though Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will attend.
Among those also expected are UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, French President Emmanuel Macron and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Representation is also expected from the EU and Arab League, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, India and Germany, among others.
- Cairo “studying” request for Sisi to join board, says FM.
- Canadian PM intends to accept Trump’s invitation: aide.
- Argentine president says it will be an ‘honour’ to join initiative.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” for postwar Gaza began to take shape Saturday, with the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada asked to join.
The announcements from those leaders came after the US president named his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and senior negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to the panel.
Trump had already declared himself the chair of the body, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory, which lies in rubble after two-plus years of relentless Israeli bombardment.
The moves came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo which was attended by Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who has partnered with Witkoff for months on the issue.
In Canada, a senior aide to Prime Minister Mark Carney said he intended to accept Trump’s invitation, while in Turkey, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had been asked to become a “founding member” of the board.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo was “studying” a request for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to join.
Sharing an image of the invitation letter, Argentine President Javier Milei wrote on X that it would be “an honour” to participate in the initiative.
In a statement sent to AFP, Blair said: “I thank President Trump for his leadership in establishing the Board of Peace and am honoured to be appointed to its Executive Board.”
Blair is a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure Blair was an “acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair spent years focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as representative of the “Middle East Quartet” – the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia – after leaving Downing Street in 2007.
The White House said the Board of Peace will take on issues such as “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding and capital mobilisation.”
The other members of the board so far are World Bank President Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American businessman; billionaire US financier Marc Rowan; and Robert Gabriel, a loyal Trump aide who serves on the US National Security Council.
Trump has created a second “Gaza executive board” that appears designed to have a more advisory role.
It was not immediately clear which world leaders were asked to be on each board.
The White House, which said Friday that additional members would be named to both entities, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Israel strikes
Washington has said the Gaza plan had gone on to a second phase – from implementing the ceasefire to disarming Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel prompted the massive Israeli offensive.
On Friday, Trump named US Major General Jasper Jeffers to head the International Stabilization Force, which will be tasked with providing security in Gaza and training a new police force to succeed Hamas.
Jeffers, from special operations in US Central Command, in late 2024 was put in charge of monitoring a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which has continued periodic strikes aimed at Hezbollah.
Gaza native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath was earlier tapped to head the governing committee.
Trump, a real estate developer, has previously mused about turning devastated Gaza into a Riviera-style area of resorts, although he has backed away from calls to forcibly displace the population.
- Private carrier admits misjudgement, planning gaps.
- Regulator orders IndiGo to relieve senior office bearers.
- Operational meltdown linked to new policy of pilot rest.
India’s civil aviation regulator on Saturday imposed a fine of $2.45 million on IndiGo, the country’s biggest airline, for poor roster planning that led to large-scale flight cancellations in December.
Airports across India were thrown into disarray late last year, with the private carrier admitting “misjudgement and planning gaps” in adapting to a new policy of pilot rest.
Over 4,000 mostly domestic flights were either cancelled or delayed for over a week across the country, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The operational meltdown came even though IndiGo had two years to prepare for the new rules aimed at giving pilots more rest periods in between flights to enhance passenger safety.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it was levying the penalty for several lapses, including “failure to strike (a) balance between commercial imperatives and crew members’ ability to work effectively”.
The regulator ordered IndiGo to relieve its senior vice president of its operations control centre of his responsibilities, according to a statement released on Saturday.
It also issued warnings to senior officials at the company, including CEO Pieter Elbers “for inadequate overall oversight of flight operations and crisis management”.
There was no immediate response from IndiGo to the fine.
IndiGo, which commands 60% of India’s domestic market, operates more than 2,000 flights a day.
The crisis was one of the biggest challenges faced by the no-frills airline that has built its reputation on punctuality.
India is one of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets. In November 2024, IndiGo reached a daily level of 500,000 passengers for the first time.
- Protesters chant, “Greenland is not for sale.”
- Over “20,000 people” attend protest in Copenhagen.
- Trump says Greenland vital to US security.
COPENHAGEN: Protesters in Denmark and Greenland demonstrated on Saturday against President Donald Trump’s demand that the Arctic island be ceded to the US and called for it to be left to determine its own future.
Trump says Greenland is vital to US security because of its strategic location and large mineraldeposits, and has not ruled out using force to take it. European nations this week sent military personnel to the island at Denmark’s request.
In Copenhagen, demonstrators chanted “Greenland is not for sale” and held up slogans such as “No means No” and “Hands off Greenland” alongside the territory’s red-and-white flag as they marched to the US embassy.
Some wore red baseball caps resembling the “Make America Great Again” caps of Trump supporters, but with the slogan “Make America Go Away”.
In Greenland’s capital Nuuk, hundreds of protesters led by Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen carried flags and similar banners as they headed for the US consulate.
They passed a newly built block where Washington plans to move its consulate – currently a red wooden building with four staff.
Organisers estimated over 20,000 people attended the protest in Copenhagen – akin to the entire population of Nuuk – though police did not provide an official figure. Other protests were held across Denmark.
“I am very grateful for the huge support we as Greenlanders receive … we are also sending a message to the world that you all must wake up,” said Julie Rademacher, chair of Uagut, an organisation for Greenlanders in Denmark.
Trump triggers diplomatic rift
Trump’s repeated statements about the island have triggered a diplomatic crisis between the US and Denmark, both founding members of the NATO military alliance, and have been widely condemned in Europe.
The territory of 57,000 people, governed for centuries from Copenhagen, has carved out significant autonomy since 1979 but remains part of Denmark, which controls defence and foreign policy, and funds much of the administration.
Some 17,000 Greenlanders live in Denmark, according to Danish authorities.
All five parties elected to Greenland’s parliament ultimately favour independence, but they disagree on the timing and have recently said they would rather remain part of Denmark than join the US
Only 17% of Americans approve of Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and large majorities of Democrats and Republicans oppose using military force to annex it, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Trump called the poll “fake”.
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