Mellanöstern 2025: Från krig till fred | NTD NYHETER

The war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist group that began in 2023 was still going on when President Trump took office. And that's where Trump focused his attention, inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be the first foreign leader to the White House during Trump's second term. And Trump said something that caught many people by surprise. The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal. And I don't want to be cute, I don't want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East. Although the U.S. never took over the Gaza Strip, his words got the attention of leaders in the Middle East, who then held an emergency Arab summit and vowed to do more for the reconstruction of the territory. Later in 2025, the Houthi terrorist group, based in Yemen and backed by Iran, continued launching missiles and attack drones at Israel, one hitting near Israel's main airport. The Houthis also continued attacking ships in the Red Sea. They said all their actions were done in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. However, President Trump launched Operation Rough Rider, which sought to stop the terrorist group from attacking ships. Starting in March, the U.S. launched 24-7 operations against the Houthis, striking over a thousand Houthi targets, until May, when Trump made this announcement. The Houthis have announced that they are not, or they've announced to us at least, that they don't want to fight anymore. They just don't want to fight. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore. And that's what the purpose of what we were doing. Israel continued to say they were under existential threat from Iran's nuclear program. And in June, Israel launched a surprise attack against the world-leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran. Israeli fighter jets targeted Iran's military leaders, bases and nuclear facilities, reportedly killing over 900 people. In response, Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel. Israel intercepted many of them, but others hit major cities, killing 28 civilians. The United States later joined in the war, sending B-2 stealth bombers, striking Iran's underground nuclear facilities, which Israel did not have the capability of reaching. And those strikes ended what became known as the 12-day war. Tonight I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. Afterwards, attention from the U.S. and Israel appeared to shift to another Iran-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah in Lebanon. Although Israel and Hezbollah are currently in a ceasefire, Israel continues to launch strikes against the terrorist group to keep it from re-establishing itself in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese government said it was going to disarm the terrorist group by the end of the year, but later said disarming the group would take longer than expected as Hezbollah has refused to give up its weapons. And then in September, in what appeared to happen almost out of nowhere, Israeli forces struck a building in Qatar where leaders of the Hamas terrorist group were reportedly living. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this after the strike. What did America do in the wake of September 11? It promised to hunt down the terrorists who committed this heinous crime wherever they may be. So we did exactly what America did when it went after the terrorist, the al-Qaeda terrorist in Afghanistan and after they went and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Israel received widespread criticism after the strikes, and the U.S. then tightened military ties with Qatar, announcing a new joint air force training facility with Qatar in the U.S. And one of the most significant stories in the Middle East in 2025, Israel and Hamas both agreed to the Gaza peace plan brokered by President Trump. The peace plan initiated the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Phase one ordered the release of all remaining hostages, including 20 living hostages who had been held in Hamas captivity for over two years, and also the return of the bodies of the remaining 28 deceased hostages. Phase two of the Gaza peace plan includes the disarmament of Hamas. However, as of now, the Gaza peace plan appears to have stalled, as the body of one hostage still remains in the Gaza Strip. Jason Perry, NTD News.