April 7 (UPI) — Leaders from Egypt, France and Jordan on Monday urged President Donald Trump in a phone call “to urgently secure a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip” with Hamas and Israel.
Later Monday afternoon, Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House. Netanyahu said he is working with the United States on another deal to release hostages held by the terror group Hamas.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt, Jordan’s King Abdullah II of Jordan, and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Cairo at a trilateral summit, and stressed the importance of a new cease-fire and the immediate resumption of full humanitarian aid.
The leaders said they want to “emphasize the need to create conducive conditions for a genuine political horizon and mobilize international efforts to end the suffering of the Palestinian people, restore security and peace for all, and implement the two-state solution.”
The first cease-fire began on Jan. 19 and ended March 1 in which there also was the release of Israel hostages and Palestinian prisoners. Israel resumed airstrikes on Gaza and the humanitarian aid crisis increased.
Since March 18, the Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll has reached 1,391, with more than 3,400 injuries. Since the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, deaths have surpassed 50,000 and 115,000 have been injured.
The three leaders also back a Gaza reconstruction plan, which was initially adopted during the Arab Summit, also in Cairo, on March 4 . It was endorsed by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on March 27.
In addition, they want two states of Israel and Palestine in the region.
On Tuesday, Macron said he will visit Egyptian port of El-Arish, which is 30 miles from the Gaza Strip, to meet humanitarian and security workers.”
The three leaders also showed a “willingness to accelerate peace for Ukraine, consistent with international law, and the common need for international security and stability.” Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2023.
In Washington, Netanyahu emphasized the need for not only a cease-fire, but the return of Israeli hostages.
“We’re working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we’re committed to getting all the hostages out,” Netanyahu tells reporters in the Oval Office.
He said the “hostages are in agony.”
Netanyahu said Israel is committed to “enabling the people of Gaza to freely make a choice to go wherever they want.”
Hamas turned over 25 living Israeli hostages during the first phase. Hamas and its allies continue to hold 63 Israeli hostages in Gaza, including American-Israel Edan Alexander. At least 32 of those are believed to be dead, according to the Israeli government. Hadar Goldin, a soldier, has been held since 2014.
On March 29, Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, said the terrorist group had agreed to release five hostages, including the American-Israeli Edan Alexander, as part of a 50-day cease-fire proposal from Egypt and Qatar.
The new proposal also includes nearly $2 billion in funds to be distributed among top leaders of Hamas’ military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, based on their ranks.
According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Al-Qassam Brigades’s military council and its field commanders reiterated demands for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a comprehensive cease-fire extending to the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
Israel didn’t accept the deal.
“I think the war will stop at some point that won’t be in too distant future,” Trump said next Netanyahu. “Right now, we have a problem with hostages, we try to get the hostages, we got quite a few of them out, but it’s a long process, it shouldn’t be that long.”
Trump reiterated “plenty of countries” would take the 2.1 million displaced Palestinians. But Arab nations, including Jordan and Egypt have rejected the displacement, he said.
“That’s a hell of a place,” Trump continued. “You know what I call it — a great location that nobody wants to live in.”
Israel occupied the area for 40 years after capturing it in the Six-Day War in 1967.
