Everyone "Loving Israel Again" After Gaza Ceasefire Deal : Netanyahu says to Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Donald Trump that everyone was "loving Israel again" after the announcement of the hostage release and the Gaza ceasefire deal. The Israeli leader said this during a phone call with Trump after the US leader announced the peace deal between Israel and Hamas.

"It (the deal) has brought the whole world together. It's amazing. I've never seen anything - it's so good for Israel," Trump told during a phone call interview, where he also recalled his conversation with Netanyahu.

Trump told Hannity that 'Bibi' (Netanyahu's preferred nickname) called him after the announcement of the Gaza deal.

"He said, 'I can't believe it. Everybody is liking me now, meaning him. I said, 'More importantly, they are loving Israel again,' and they really are," Trump said.

He recalled that he told Netanyahu, "Israel cannot fight the world... And he understands that very well. So it's amazing the way it's all come together."

The US leader attributed the achievement to a combination of "a set of circumstances" and "a certain degree of luck", citing efforts to destabilise Iran's nuclear programme, among other initiatives.

"It was just a set of circumstances, like, for instance, taking out the nuclear potential, nuclear power of Iran. So many different things happened that were so amazing. It's a lot of talent involved, I'll tell you. But there was a certain degree of luck too. You know, you need luck also. There is such a thing as luck," he said.

Trump, who has a penchant for claiming credit for major global events, noted that members of his administration provided "tremendous help" in getting the deal over the finish line.

"...From Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Marco [Rubio], and we had everybody. JD [Vance], the whole, the whole group was just amazing. And the military was, as you know, very instrumental in getting this done. We have a great military with great leadership," he said.

He also shared credit with Arab nations in getting the deal finalised and said, "The whole world came together, to be honest, so many countries that you wouldn't have even thought of it, and they came together. The world has come together around this deal, and that's something I would say that without that, wouldn't happen...So many countries that you wouldn't have thought of have wired their best wishes and their commitment to do whatever is necessary. The surrounding countries have all signed; I mean, they're all signed up, and it's been, it's been really an amazing period of time."

Israel-Hamas Deal

Israel and Hamas said they had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, the first phase of Trump's plan to end a war in Gaza that has killed more than 67,000 people and reshaped the Middle East.

Just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas militants' cross-border attack that triggered Israel's devastating assault on Gaza, indirect talks in Egypt yielded an agreement on the initial stage of Trump's 20-point framework to bring peace to the Palestinian enclave.

The accord, if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that had evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in countries such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon, deepening Israel's international isolation and reshaping the Middle East.

But the agreement announced by Trump late on Wednesday was short on detail and left many unresolved questions that could still lead to its collapse, as has happened with previous peace efforts.

Successful completion of the deal would mark a significant foreign policy achievement for the Republican president, who had campaigned on bringing peace to major world conflicts but has struggled to swiftly deliver, both in Gaza and on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.