British minister discusses Gaza with Arab League chief, Egyptian foreign minister in Cairo

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 653 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the fifth day of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
OCHA cited information received from Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire agreement — the United States, Egypt and Qatar.

DAVOS: In a virtual address at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, US President Donald Trump highlighted his administration’s pivotal role in brokering the ceasefire in Gaza and securing the release of hostages.

“Before even taking office, my team negotiated a ceasefire agreement in the Middle East, which wouldn’t have happened without us,” Trump said in his first major speech on the world stage since returning to the White House.

“Earlier this week, the hostages began to return to their families. They are returning, and it’s a beautiful sight, and they’ll be coming in more and more.”

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt, came into effect on Jan. 19, ending 15-months of fighting which has left more than 47,500 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The deal was structured in multiple phases, the first involving a six-week ceasefire, during which Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

In exchange, Israel committed to releasing 90 Palestinian prisoners to the West Bank and allowing hundreds of aid trucks carrying food and fuel into the Gaza Strip through border crossings in Israel and Egypt.

The negotiation process was marked by significant diplomatic efforts, with both the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration playing instrumental roles.

Brett McGurk, a Middle East negotiator for the Biden administration, collaborated closely with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East. This bipartisan cooperation was driven by a mutual desire to resolve the conflict prior to the presidential inauguration.

Trump had issued stern warnings, stating that failure to release the hostages, including seven American citizens, before his inauguration would result in severe consequences.

The US president, who began his second term on Monday, also used his WEF speech to welcome Saudi Arabia’s $600 billion investment, and said that he hoped there would be room for it to grow to $1 trillion and lower oil prices.

“I’ll be asking the Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman), who’s a fantastic guy, to round it up to around $1 trillion. I think they’ll do that,” Trump said.

He did, however, add: “I’m also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil.” Four days into his presidency, Trump said he wants to lower global oil prices, interest rates and taxes, and warned they will face tariffs if they make their products abroad.

“I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately. And likewise, they should be dropping all over the world,” he said.

Some of his harshest criticism was reserved for traditional US allies Canada and the EU who he threatened again with new tariffs, while berating their import policies blaming them for the US’s trade goods deficit with these partners.

“One thing we’re going to be demanding is we’re going to be demanding respect from other nations. Canada. We have a tremendous deficit with Canada. We’re not going to have that anywhere,” he said.

Trump promised to reduce inflation with a mix of tariffs, deregulation and tax cuts along with his crackdown on illegal immigration and commitment to making the US a hub of artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies and fossil fuels.

He also criticized levels of taxation in the EU.

“The US has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we’re going to use it,” Trump said. “Not only will this reduce the cost of virtually all goods and services, it will make the US a manufacturing superpower.”

Declaring the US had entered the “golden age of America,” Trump highlighted the sweeping reforms of his administration, which he said were correcting the “disasters” left by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Trump criticized Biden’s economic policies, saying: “His $8 trillion in wasteful deficit spending, energy restrictions, regulations, and hidden taxes resulted in the worst inflation crisis in modern history.”