The ceasefire deal achieved between Israel and Hamas is a direct result of the Republican victory in the November US elections, President-elect Donald Trump said at a Sunday rally in Washington before his scheduled inauguration as president on Monday.
“This agreement could only have happened as a result of our historic victory in November,” he noted.
He lauded the ceasefire agreement as “epic,” characterizing it “as a first step towards lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Trump added, “I’m glad to report that the first hostages have just been released.”
“I know that Biden is saying that they made the deal.”
He reiterated a claim he had made previously that the war would not have happened had he been president. “First of all, it would have never happened if I was president,” he noted, adding, “Iran was broke.”
He thanked his incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, for “helping reach this great breakthrough.”
At the rally, Witkoff held his phone, showing a photo of the three released hostages. “I just received on my phone pictures of the first three hostages who were released.”
He affirmed Trump “was responsible for this release.”
Iron Dome
He also noted he would direct the military to begin construction of an “Iron Dome” missile defense shield once he is inaugurated as president, which he said would be made in the US.
Trump has previously pledged to build a state-of-the-art missile defense “force field” around the US In the Republican Party platform during the last election, the force field was referred to as an “Iron Dome,” reminiscent of Israel’s missile defense system, which shares the same name.
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
