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U.S. President Donald Trump declared Sunday that the second phase of Gaza ceasefire negotiations has begun, even as he authorized Hamas to serve temporarily as a police force while nearly 2 million displaced Palestinians return to the devastated territory.
"It started. I mean, it started from our standpoint," Trump told reporters traveling with him to the Middle East for the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit. "You know, the phases seem a bit mixed together. Cleanup needs to begin. Look at Gaza, it needs a lot of cleanup."
Speaking alongside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Trump confirmed a striking development: Washington has given Hamas approval to act as a temporary police force in Gaza as residents stream back to destroyed neighborhoods.
"They do want to stop the problems, and they've been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time," Trump said aboard Air Force One, adding that the U.S. is monitoring to ensure "there's not going to be big crime, or some of the problems that you have when you have areas like this that have been literally demolished."
Trump emphasized the massive reconstruction challenge ahead. "Look at Gaza, it needs a lot of cleanup. That's why I mentioned debris in my speech, I used the word debris," he said.
The president acknowledged the security risks as Palestinians return home. "You have close to 2 million people going back to buildings that have been demolished, and a lot of bad things can happen. So we want it to be safe," he said. "I think it's going to be fine."
The president flatly declared the conflict over when asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not acknowledging the war's end. "The war is over, okay? You understand that?" Trump said.
He expressed confidence the ceasefire would hold, based on his 20-point proposal announced last Wednesday. "A lot of reasons why it's going to hold. But I think people are tired of it. It's been centuries, not just recent. It's been centuries," he said.
Addressing concerns about Hamas potentially rearming, Trump said the group "wants to stop the problems" and has lost "probably 60,000 people." "That's a lot of retribution," he said, noting many survivors "were, in many cases, very young when this all started."
Trump said he would be "proud" to visit Gaza, adding, "I'd like to put my feet on it at least, but I think it's going to be a great miracle over the coming decades, and you know if you go too fast, that's not going to be good."
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On the planned "Board of Peace" to govern Gaza, Trump said it would be established "very quickly" but expressed uncertainty about including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "First, I want to find out that Tony would be popular with all, because I just don't know that," he said.
Reconstruction efforts would begin "immediately" and likely span years, Trump said. "You have to get people taken care of first. But it's going to start, really, essentially, immediately. They're going to have to start by removing a lot of the structures that you see that are down to the ground. ... It's blasted. This is like a demolition site. Almost the entire site is."
Trump also discussed potential relief for Iran, saying he could lift sanctions if Tehran agrees to negotiations. "They can't survive with those sanctions. The sanctions are quite heavy. At some point they'll want the sanctions lifted," he said.
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