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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire, I'm John Bickley.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I'm Georgia Howe.
--:-- John Bickley: We're coming to you today on a day of profound joy, of soaring hope, of renewed faith, and above all, a day to give our deepest thanks to the almighty God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right, John. And we're here to bring you the latest on the historic return of all living Israeli hostages and President Trump's address to the Knesset.
--:-- John Bickley: After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace, a land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was President Trump delivering a momentous speech in front of Israel's government after a historic sequence of events.
--:-- John Bickley: In the early hours this morning, celebration broke out across all of Israel as all the remaining living hostages were finally reunited with their loved ones.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And now Trump's peace plan takes its next major steps.
--:-- John Bickley: Joining us now to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: Hey, John.
--:-- John Bickley: So sheer jubilation across Israel and much of the Middle East this morning as we have this really incredible, very emotional return of the hostages and this peace deal taking effect. What have we just witnessed?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, John, I think we have to say that what we just witnessed is history and a lot of hopes for lasting peace in the Middle East. What you're hearing from so many people is that peace is contagious and they hope this spreads throughout the region.
--:-- John Bickley: So as you mentioned, President Trump delivered his big speech early this morning after the return of the last 20 living hostages who had been held for an excruciating 737 days by Hamas terrorists, many of them in tunnels, in terror tunnels. in terrible conditions.
--:-- Megan Basham: And the anticipation for their release has been building all weekend. There were all-night vigils all across Israel, all across the country. Israelis waited for the moment that they'd been praying for, for more than two years.
--:-- John Bickley: And it all crescendoed this morning in these tearful reunions. I can tell you that I got emotional watching some of these videos of the hostages being reunited with their families, particularly that video of Barr Kuperstein reunited with his father.
--:-- Megan Basham: Many people sharing that video. Let's look at that video of Bar Kaperstein being reunited with his family. It's just really an incredible moment there.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, President Trump traveled overnight to be there in person to greet the freed hostages and their families. He also delivered this historic speech on the peace deal.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, incredibly joyfully, John. His name is being honored across the country. I'll tell you that it was overwhelming. The Israeli people applauded when his name was mentioned at these events.
--:-- John Bickley: Israeli lawmakers broke out in chants of Trump when his name was mentioned in front of Israel's governing body, the Knesset. The staff distributed red baseball caps patterned on the iconic MAGA hats that read, Trump, the peace president.
--:-- Megan Basham: And then when he finally delivered his speech in front of Israel's Knesset, the response was electric. Israeli leaders most significantly Bibi Netanyahu gave the highest praise imaginable for Trump in his introductory remarks. In fact, he nominated him for Israel's prize, that the country's highest cultural honor.
--:-- John Bickley: When President Trump stood up to speak, he was met with a standing ovation.
--:-- Megan Basham: And here's just a bit of those remarks. Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change and change very much for the better. Like the USA right now, it will be the golden age of Israel and the golden age of the Middle East.
--:-- John Bickley: So I would say that this was Trump at his most presidential, and we may very well be watching the scenes that will forever mark his presidency, in much the same way, actually, that Reagan's speeches in front of the Berlin Wall marked his presidency.
--:-- Megan Basham: Here's a bit more of that. So this long and difficult war has now ended. You know, some people say 3000 years, some people say 500 years, whatever it is, it's the granddaddy of them all. And in an unprecedented achievement, virtually the entire region has endorsed the plan that Gaza will be immediately demilitarized, that Hamas will be disarmed.
--:-- John Bickley: And Israel's security will no longer be threatened in any way, shape or form.
--:-- Megan Basham: And again, when the president finished, the room broke out in chants of Trump and a standing ovation. Thank you very much. God bless you. God bless the United States of America and God bless the Middle East. Thank you, everybody. Good luck. Thank you very much. Thank you.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, coming out of this historic moment, what do we know about how Trump plans to capitalize on this momentum to further stabilize the Middle East?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah. So after his speech, President Trump traveled to Egypt, where he met with leaders around the region around the world including from Turkey, Jordan, and several European nations. The head of the Palestinian Authority will also be in attendance. Egypt reportedly extended a last-minute invitation to Israel, but Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu declined due to observance of a Jewish holiday.
--:-- John Bickley: But I think the next crucial phase of Trump's 20-point peace plan is the return of the bodies of the remaining deceased hostages.
--:-- Megan Basham: So a joint Israeli-US-Qatari-Egyptian task force will be established to find any of those missing remains with the goal of recovering all of them in the next few days.
--:-- John Bickley: So we talked to Daily Wire reporter Cassie Akiva, who has more.
--:-- Cassie Akiva: Following the return of the Israeli hostages, 2,000 Palestinian prisoners were released, including 250 serving life sentences for crimes such as murder, rape, and terrorism.
--:-- John Bickley: Now with partner countries, Trump has a task of taking the next steps in his plan, which include disarming Hamas, rebuilding Gaza, and making the way for a new Palestinian governing body.
--:-- Megan Basham: Though Hamas has agreed to the deal, the terror group may be harder to disarm than anticipated because Hamas has spent the last few days executing political opponents within the Strip.
--:-- John Bickley: But the president says he plans to push forward with this deal and bring peace to this war-torn region.
--:-- Megan Basham: So every generation, John, has those pivotal moments where we remember where we were, when we heard the news, when we saw those images that changed the course of history. And very likely that we're seeing one of those now.
--:-- John Bickley: Indeed. And there's, like you said, growing sense of hope in the Middle East that we're going to see the beginning here of a lasting peace.
--:-- Megan Basham: Megan, thank you so much for reporting.
--:-- Megan Basham: Absolutely. My pleasure.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for tuning in. This has been a special update edition of Morning Wire.
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