Fox News anchor Bret Baier heaped praise on President Donald Trump on Monday after his historic peace deal with Israel and Palestine.
During a segment on “America’s Newsroom” with anchor Martha MacCallum and Fox News senior correspondent Benjamin Hall, Baier analyzed the release of Israeli hostages from Gaza and what it means for Ukraine and China.
Baier began by praising Trump’s speech before the Israeli Knesset, saying, “A really historic moment… I think that you are going to look back and that speech at the Knesset is going to be one of the speeches that President Trump is remembered for.”
“Trump said, ‘This day generations from now. This will be remembered as the moment everything began to change.’ And that is the real hope here. It was interesting how well he was received. He is now hero status in Israel,” Baier added.
President Trump told reporters that the fact that Israel and Muslim countries are celebrating at the same time is “very special” and has “never happened before.” This was after he helped negotiate a deal between Israel and Hamas that will free dozens of prisoners on Monday.
“This is a very special event. They had 500,000 people yesterday and today in Israel — and also the Muslim and Arab countries are all cheering. Everybody is cheering at one time. That’s never happened before. Usually, if you have one cheering, the other isn’t, the other is the opposite. This is the first time,” Trump said.
“Everybody is amazed and they’re thrilled and it’s an honor to be involved. And we’re going to have an amazing time and it’s going to be something that’s never happened before. So I’ll see you on the plane, and we’re going to have a good time,” Trump added.
A little more than two years have passed since terrorists from Gaza broke into Israel, killed 1,200 people, and took hundreds of hostages. Yesterday, Hamas freed the last 20 hostages as part of the new peace deal.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called President Trump the “greatest friend” Israel has ever had.
He thanked Trump for “standing up for Israel” at the United Nations, recognizing Israel’s rights in the West Bank — or the Judea and Samaria — and withdrawing from the “disastrous” Iran nuclear deal.
After Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, there was fighting in Gaza for two years, and it is thought that tens of thousands of people died.
Last week, Israel and Hamas finally agreed to a peace deal after months of talks mediated by the Trump administration.
Israel and Hamas started exchanging prisoners on Monday. In return, Israel freed 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and Hamas freed the last 20 hostages. The release was one part of a 20-point peace plan meant to end the fighting and help rebuild Gaza.
So far, four of the 28 hostages thought to be dead have returned.
As part of the deal, Israel stopped all military activities and retreated to lines that had already been agreed upon. At the same time, plans were made for a full hostage exchange. Hamas members who give up violence will be given pardon or safe passage, but those who keep fighting will not be able to help run Gaza in the future.
Gaza will be run by a technical Palestinian group, which will be supervised by an international “Board of Peace” led by Trump, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and other world leaders. This group will assume responsibility for rebuilding Gaza until the Palestinian Authority is prepared to assume control.
Trump’s economic growth plan aims to attract foreign investment and transform Gaza into a thriving modern miracle city. This will be made possible by a special economic zone with better trade conditions.
The plan is to keep everyone in Gaza and have them help rebuild it.
Under the watch of the UN, the Red Crescent, and other neutral groups, humanitarian aid, such as essential supplies, repairs to damaged infrastructure, and medical assistance, will be allowed to enter Gaza without restrictions.