ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday hailed President Donald Trump for his exemplary leadership as world leaders signed a declaration meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza.
Trump made a lightning visit to Israel, where he addressed parliament, before flying to Egypt for a Gaza summit where he and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye signed the declaration as guarantors to the Gaza deal.
The document was signed during an international summit hosted by Egypt in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and prisoners, with Trump calling it a “tremendous day for the Middle East.”
Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lauded Trump for his untiring efforts in materializing the peace deal, saying the world would remember him as a man who went out of the way to stop several wars.
“Today is a one of the greatest days in contemporary history, because peace has been achieved after untiring efforts led by President Trump who is genuinely a man of peace, who has relentlessly and untiringly worked throughout these months, day in and day out, to make this world a place to live with peace and prosperity,” he said.
Sharif also thanked the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye for their mediation to bring an end to Israel’s two-year war on Gaza, which has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians.
As part of Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, Hamas on Monday freed the last 20 surviving hostages it held after two years of captivity in Gaza. In exchange, Israel released 1,968 mostly Palestinian prisoners held in its jails, its prison service said.
“This is a tremendous day for the world, it’s a tremendous day for the Middle East,” Trump told as more than two dozen world leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh.
“The document is going to spell out rules and regulations and lots of other things,” he said before signing, repeating twice that “it’s going to hold up.”
