Jerusalem: US President Donald Trump addressed the Israeli parliament on Monday in a speech, calling the Gaza ceasefire a “historic dawn of a new Middle East,” and declaring that “this long and difficult war has ended.” The speech marked Trump’s first official visit to Israel since brokering the agreement that brought about a truce between Israel and Hamas, along with the release of hostages.

Trump, flanked by key advisers including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, was greeted with a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. But the session was briefly interrupted when left-wing lawmaker Ofer Cassif protested and was ejected from the chamber. "That was very efficient," Trump remarked dryly, before resuming his address.

‘My personality is about stopping war’

Trump made it clear he viewed peace through the lens of strength.

“My personality is all about stopping war,” he said. “If we go into a war, we are going to win it like nobody ever has won it before. We will not be politically correct.”

Trump stressed that the ceasefire wasn’t just a pause in violence but a major strategic achievement that had broad international backing.

“In an unprecedented achievement, virtually the entire region has endorsed the plan that Gaza will be demilitarised and Hamas will be disarmed, and Israel's security will not be threatened,” he said.

Trump also credited the ceasefire’s success to cooperation from across the region.

“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,” he said.

“We had a lot of help, we had a lot of help from a lot of people that you wouldn't suspect, and I want to thank them very much for that. It's an incredible triumph for Israel and the world to have all of these nations working together as partners in peace.”

He added how, “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.”