Trump visits Middle East to celebrate hostage release, ceasefire agreement

(CNN) – After more than two years of war, all of the 20 remaining living hostages in Gaza have been freed from Hamas captivity.

This follows an agreement by Israel and Hamas to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal.

President Donald Trump was in the region Monday to mark this moment in history.

It’s been a long stated goal of Trump’s to bring the war in Gaza to an end, and he had the chance to visit the Middle East after helping broker the agreement that so many hope will lead to a permanent end to the conflict.

Trump is receiving credit for the role he played as several world leaders have acknowledged his diplomatic efforts, and chants of “thank you, Trump” have been heard on the ground in recent days.

There were a couple of key stops during his visit.

Trump arrived in Israel, where he met with hostage family members and addressed the Israeli parliament.

He then visited Egypt for a signing ceremony and summit focused on what’s next for Gaza, specifically what stability and security could look like going forward.

Trump says, “This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of the age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God. It’s the start of a grand concord and lasting harmony for Israel and all the nations of what will soon be a truly magnificent region. I believe that so strongly. This is the historic dawn of. A new Middle East.”

There are still a lot of questions. When Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to phase one of a 20-point proposal to end the war, he did not address some of the key sticking points, including Hamas’ disarmament and the future governance of Gaza.