Donald Trump has announced on his social media network Truth Social that there is agreement on the first stage of his plan to stop Israel’s military campaign in Gaza (which we knew were coming because Marco Rubio asked Trump to approve the Truth Social post on a piece of paper that was seen during a separate press conference)

I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first phase of our peace plan,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly!

“This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen.”

The Coalition have responded and is pretending that their opposition to protest against the genocide is because they were actually focused on peace. Uh huh.

The announcement by the President of the United States that Israel and Hamas have agreed to implement the first phase of a US-brokered peace plan should inspire hope in Australia and across the world.

All fair-minded Australians will welcome this announcement. We must remain hopeful today’s announcement will be borne out over the coming days.

The Coalition has supported the US-brokered peace plan from its announcement, and we have stood with Israel and the United States through this conflict. Such an outcome is why the Australian Government should always have stood with our closest ally the United States.

Today marks a hopeful first step toward the release of hostages held for over two years, the end of this war, and the beginning of enduring peace.

This development also underscores what the Coalition has been saying for weeks – now is not a time to protest, it is a time to provide our support to this effort which has delivered the real prospect of peace after two years of conflict.