Humanitarian aid pouring into Gaza after ceasefire, says US president

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (MNTV) – US President Donald Trump said on Monday that humanitarian aid has begun flowing into Gaza following the ceasefire and prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

“Humanitarian aid is now pouring in, including hundreds of truckloads of food, medical equipment and other supplies — much of it paid for by people in this room,” Trump told world leaders gathered for a Gaza summit in Sharm el-Sheikh. “Civilians are returning to their homes. The hostages are reuniting.”

Calling it “a new and beautiful day,” Trump said the rebuilding phase in Gaza was beginning. “Rebuilding is maybe going to be the easiest part,” he said. “I think we’ve done a lot of the hardest part, because the rest comes together. We all know how to rebuild, and we know how to build better than anybody in the world.”

The US president expressed “tremendous gratitude to the Arab and Muslim nations who helped make this incredible breakthrough possible.”

Trump added that Gaza’s reconstruction must involve both demilitarization and the creation of an “honest civilian police force” to ensure long-term safety. “We’re also agreed that Gaza’s reconstruction requires that it be demilitarized and that a new honest civilian police force be created to create safe conditions for the people in Gaza,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Hamas and Israel completed a prisoner swap that saw the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees from Ofer military prison and other facilities in the Negev Desert. All 20 surviving Israeli hostages were also freed.

Trump said efforts were underway to recover the bodies of hostages who died in captivity. “They know where numerous are — I guess five or six are in yet now,” he said. “They’re looking for bodies in conjunction with Israel, and they’re going to be finding quite a few of them.”